


You're Gonna Go Far, Kid

by thegreatestsun



Series: Bullseye [1]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: AU where Lian doesn't know anything about superheroes, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Case Fic, Complete, Everything will be explained in the author's notes i promise, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hmm how do i avoid spoilers in tags, Jayroy is a thing here but Lian doesn't know it's a thing, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, That's Later Though, and a dash of angst, kind of, oof this is hard to tag, the mystery is obvious to us but not to Lian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 73,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23818153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegreatestsun/pseuds/thegreatestsun
Summary: Lian Harper is your average thirteen year old, she draws, she practices archery with her dad, and she spends time with her Uncle Jason, and his family.Oh, also, that entire family might be some of the best and most famous vigilantes in the world, and no one bothered to tell her.-----AU set maybe five or so years in the future, Lian doesn't know anything about the superhero scene, and finds out by accident. Shenanigans ensue.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Duke Thomas & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Lian Harper & Jason Todd, Lian Harper & Roy Harper, Lian Harper & Roy Harper & Jason Todd, Lian harper & the batfamily, Roy Harper/Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain
Series: Bullseye [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849507
Comments: 198
Kudos: 563





	1. Show Me How To Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! So, this is a super specific and highly self indulgent AU I came up with my best friend, where Lian is around thirteen, and hasn't been told about any of the vigilante stuff. Jason and Roy are super close, and as a result, Lian and Roy have kind of been forcibly adopted into the Batfamily. Lian eventually realises something is up with her dad, and shenanigans quickly ensue.
> 
> I spent a little more time on planning than I originally intended, so this is most likely going to morph into a case fic pretty soon. 
> 
> The title and all of the chapter titles are taken from the song "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" by The Offspring

Lian Harper, age thirteen. She’d say she had a pretty normal life. She lived with her dad in a nice, despite it being cheap, apartment in Star City, she went to her local middle school, and she was learning archery as much as possible. It was kind of a family tradition, as her dad was incredible, and her grandpa was even more so. Apparently. She wasn’t sure, she’d never seen an example.

Yep, completely normal life. 

Another big part of Lian’s life was one Jason Todd, also known as ‘Uncle Jay’. He and Roy were the best of friends, so he’d been around a lot as Lian grew up. He was also her dad, in a way. She’d stayed at his Gotham apartment before quite a few times, and he had babysat her more times than she could count. Jason was a constant in her life, so when he randomly showed up at their apartment two weeks into the summer break, Lian thought nothing of it. 

She was sat on the couch in the living room, doodling something in her sketchbook – which had been a gift from Jason, ironically enough – as some bad, brightly coloured cartoon blared in the background, and ignoring her math homework, which’d been sat on the coffee table for so long, she could’ve _sworn_ it was giving her a judgemental glare at this point. Her dad was in their spare room, the one he’d converted into a small workshop, and was tinkering away at something she wasn’t allowed to look at. She had her suspicions it was something for her. Course, Roy had never _told_ Lian that it was a surprise for her, but she could hope. 

A hard knock on the door, and Lian was throwing her sketchbook down, and running to the door, and looking through the peephole. She was still a little too short to see without standing on her tip-toes, but as she strained to see, she saw it was Jason standing outside, looking worried. He was chewing on his bottom lip, and Lian could see his hand fiddling with his cigarette lighter. He was anxious about something.

She quickly undid the locks on the door – her dad insisted they needed multiple, she didn’t get why, but oh well – and threw it open with a wide smile. “Hey! Uncle Jay!”

Jason’s worried expression quickly morphed into a smile, which made Lian feel happy. Whatever he was worried about couldn’t be too bad if he was able to genuinely smile at her. “Hey there, Lian.” 

She stepped away from the door as Jason walked in, and quickly ran his eyes over the apartment. “Is Roy in? I gotta talk to him about something.”

Lian narrowed her eyes at him. “What kinda something? Freelancing shit?” she asked, shutting the door behind Jason as he pulled off his jacket, and hung it on the hook that was really reserved for him alone at this point.

“Language.” He chastised, putting on a hyper-scandalised expression, and nodding his head towards the large glass jar in the kitchen, labelled ‘swear jar’ in Roy’s spidery handwriting.

“I learnt it from you!” Lian teased, leaning against the door. Regardless, she dug in her pockets, and found a few cents. She ran into the kitchen, and dropped the coins in. “Is it though? Freelance stuff?” she called into the living room.

Jason nodded, and awkwardly patted at his pockets without noticing he was doing it. He was subconsciously looking for a cigarette, Lian realised. Damn, he really must be worried about this. He barely acknowledged her as she came back into the living room, so Lian knew that something big was up. 

“Yeah, yeah – freelance stuff. Look, Lian, I’d love to stay and chat, but this is kinda urgent. Is Roy in or not?” he said, tapping his foot against the wooden floor impatiently. Lian would’ve been offended, if that wasn’t just how Jason was. 

“Workshop.” She said, jerking her head in the general direction of the door. Jason nodded again, and was almost immediately gone, the workshop door closing behind him with a loud bang. She heard her dad’s laughter, and something said in a teasing tone, before it was sharply cut off, by Jason’s worried, gruff voice, and the tone of their voices became a lot more serious. 

Lian sighed, and resigned herself to another hour or so of bored doodling and bad cartoons. She vaulted over the couch, and landed with a quiet thump, which suddenly sounded a lot louder in the apartment then it did the last couple of times she did it. Lian swallowed thickly, and did her best to ignore the sounds of Roy and Jason’s serious voices, and focus on the bad cartoons, and the new sketch she’d started. It was of Wonder Woman. 

She was almost tempted to grab her neglected math homework when the workshop door opened, and Roy and Jason both came out, but with very different expressions. Jason looked calmer, and vaguely excited, and Roy had a guilty smile on his face. 

Lian knew a weird announcement was coming. Okay, what was more likely here? She’d either, A, be allowed to try out one of her dad’s weird engineering experiments, (unlikely), B, they were going to spend an indeterminate amount of time in some other city, most likely Gotham (honestly, could go either way with likelihood), C, her dad had blown something up somewhere and he was disappearing for the rest of the day to go fix it. (Very unlikely, especially these days) or D, something completely unexpected that Lian hadn’t already dealt with before. (Likely. Extremely likely.)

“So, Princess, I got some… potentially bad news.” Her dad began, still keeping that guiltily apologetic smile on his face. Lian raised an eyebrow at him over her sketchbook. Option B and C were looking more and more likely. D was veering on ‘completely certain’. 

“What is it?” she asked. She sounded bored, because she kind of was. Her concern had evaporated, because the situation was apparently solved, or about to be solved. 

Roy rubbed the back of his neck, and pushed some of his long hair out of his eyes. He was stalling. “Well –”

Jason rolled his eyes, but there was a good-naturedness under it. “Jesus, Roy, cut to the chase.”

“We’re spending a week or two in Gotham?” Roy offered, smile somehow getting _guiltier._

Oh. Option B. Huh. Yeah, that didn’t actually sound too bad. Lian _liked_ Gotham, weirdly enough. Sure, it was loud and busy and dangerous and had a very questionable aesthetic at times, but it was Jason’s home, and honestly? She sometimes felt like it was home, too. Although, with all the people she spent time around who were from there, it wasn’t surprising at all. She couldn’t help it. 

She’d definitely been spending too much time with the Wayne family. But she couldn’t exactly help _that_ either. Dick was in the same category as Jason, in a way, she knew him as ‘Uncle Dick’ and he and Roy were good friends, and he’d looked after her before, and they Were close and all, but Jason’s connection with both her and her dad was just… well, it was just a lot stronger. And Damian was a great friend to her, even though he was a good five or so years her elder. He was like a big brother to her, and was even the one who’d gotten her into art in the first place. There was also Tim, Cassandra, and Duke, who were in a weird place between ‘Uncle/Aunt’ and ‘Honorary Sibling’, but Lian still liked them regardless. She once joked that Bruce was like a grandpa to her, and she was pretty sure that he’d taken that a little too seriously. 

The Waynes were like an accidental second family, but she was fine with that. She hardly had a large biological family – just her dad, her grandpa, and her aunt Artemis who she didn’t really get along with. The more the merrier, right?

“Oh, cool!” Lian responded, jumping up in excitement. It was a little exaggerated, but she didn’t want her dad to feel bad. Especially when it was something related to work, which he couldn’t really work around. Being a freelance engineer was hardly an easy job. Lian understood. “When are we leaving?”

“Should be sometime tomorrow, kiddo.” Jason said, and then he was back to chewing on his lip. “My apartment still adequate living quarters for you?” he joked, but it felt a little forced. Oh well, he was probably just stressed. And Lian found it sweet how he was trying to make jokes to make her feel better. 

“Course they are.” She responded. “I’ll start getting packed then.” She said, grabbing her sketchbook and pencil case. She wasn’t a complete stranger to packing up her stuff on a whim, but it still always felt a little weird.

Still though, Gotham! Lian began running through a list of all her favourite places to visit there as she pushed her suitcase out from under her bed, and set about packing clothes. They could go to that Batman themed diner that Jason seemingly hated, but Dick adored. Or she could go to Wayne Manor, and bug Damian into teaching her how to play video games again. Ooh, what about that comic book shop in downtown Gotham? They always had really obscure comics, and Lian _lived_ for those…

She finished off her clothes and moved on to the other stuff she’d need. Toiletries and hobby stuff. When she walked back into the living room to get her discarded math homework, still on the coffee table – her dad would be disappointed if she didn’t at least _pretend_ to try – she found her dad sat on the couch, holding hands with Jason, like it was nothing. He was talking about something to do with bats, running his hand through his hair like he always did when he was stressed about something. When the two of them noticed Lian, they quickly broke their hold on one another, and acted _far_ too casual for it to be real. 

Lian had spent a good amount of time with Cass Cain, and when you spent time with Cass, and she liked you, she’d teach you how to tell what people were thinking based off their body language. Cass was _scary_ good at that, and Lian was half inclined to believe she was secretly a superhero with mind-reading powers. 

She wasn’t, obviously, but it was still fun to think about. 

Jason stayed for dinner, which was nice, but it was also a little weird because Roy and Jason kept shooting each other these little pointed glances that Lian didn’t quite understand. After dinner, Roy went into his room, mumbling about needing to pack, as Jason and Lian washed dishes together. Jason did the actual washing, and Lian was on drying duty. 

“You sure you’re not disappointed about coming to Gotham?” Jason asked suddenly, breaking the easy silence between them. 

Lian shook her head as she put a plate back into the cupboard. “Nah, I’m excited. I didn’t have anything planned for the summer anyway, so you’re hardly disrupting anything.” She explained, grabbing a bowl. 

Jason frowned as he scrubbed at a particularly stubborn stain. “You didn’t have anything planned? Why’s that? I’m surprised you don’t have people lining up at the door to hang out with you.” 

Lian shrugged. “Eh, it’s not like people didn’t _want_ to hang out. But I’ve only really got two friends at school – Olive is going to Paris for the whole summer, and Max is doing a road trip across the whole country. So, we don’t exactly have chance to.” Lian explained as she carefully put all the knives and forks away as neatly as possible. 

“That’s a shame.” Jason mused. “Well, at least you’re not gonna be bored in Gotham. Dickiebird is over for a while, and you know how desperate he is for ‘family bonding time’.” He said, putting the last three words in air quotes.

Lian giggled at the memory of Dick forcing all of them to go ice skating one year. Whilst he had insisted that he was incredible, he immediately lost his balance whilst on the ice, and because of how flexible he was, he fell into a near-perfect split on the ice. She still had the photos saved on her phone, somewhere. 

“Still don’t get why dad and I are included in the whole family bonding thing.” She said, drying her hands of the last of the leftover soap suds. 

Jason took off the washing up gloves – they were a bright, garish pink, that Roy had bought whilst he was first moving in and panicking over what he actually _did_ need, and what everyone was _saying_ he needed – and left them to rest on the countertop. “Because you are family, in a way. It’s like your dad and my older brother became friends, and then _I_ made the mistake of becoming friends with him, and we just couldn’t get rid of him. Then you happened. That’s seemingly how family works with us lot.” He said, ruffling her long black hair, and ruining her careful braid. She huffed as he laughed at her frustrated attempts to comb it down again. 

Jason left again, soon after that, and when Lian was laying down in bed, she couldn’t help but think that something was off. Sometimes her dad _did_ need to run to another city for a while, but Lian wouldn’t be allowed to come with him, because it was job stuff. Either her grandpa or Dinah, or both, would come over for a while and look after her, made sure she got to school and all, or Jason would if he was free. One time, Dick had looked after her for about a week. But this was job stuff, and this time, Lian was coming with. And both her dad and Jason had been weirdly tense the entire evening. _And_ they weren’t telling her why. Normally, she’d at least get a vague description or _something,_ but this time she was getting zero. Zilch. Nada. _None._

Lian groaned, and rolled over in bed, and tried to forget about it. She had more important things to worry about. Like, for example, why were her dad and Jason holding hands? And why did they break apart when Lian came in the room?

Just as she began to mull over this puzzling situation, her exhaustion kicked in, and she was out like a light.


	2. You're Getting Better All The Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I was pretty surprised that so many people actually really liked this premise as much as I did, but I'm definitely glad you guys do! This chapter is like,, maybe half a little more set-up and half some Actual Plot_tm, you know? Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Chapter title is once again taken from "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" by The Offspring. All the titles are gonna be, but I'm just saying it in case I get in trouble or something.
> 
> Quick trigger warning, Lian finds a gun in this chapter, because Jason, so if that's triggering for you please read with caution <3

Lian was still half asleep when she was dragged out of bed, and throwing her suitcase into the trunk of their car, and buckling up her seatbelt. It was a long drive to Gotham, and she was clearly still tired anyway, so her dad didn’t complain or even comment when she announced she’d try to fall asleep again.

She managed to get at least twenty minutes in, when they passed over a pothole, and the entire car jumped, rousing her. She heard Roy swear under his breath, and mutter something. Huh, he sounded like he was on the phone. But as Lian listened, she couldn’t hear anyone else’s voice. And they were definitely still driving, so whoever was talking would have to be on speaker. Her dad was pretty insistent about that sort of thing.

“Mm, I don’t know about that.” Roy said softly. “We aren’t even halfway yet, Wing.” He added, sounding slightly annoyed. “Yeah, I _know_ this is a big deal. That’s why Bullseye is even coming along, or did you forget that already?”

…Huh? Who was ‘Wing’? And who was ‘Bullseye’? Lian had heard of weirder names, but these were _weird._ Maybe she should try to fall asleep again. 

No, she had to find out more, she was curious, dammit! But would her dad even continue talking if she ‘woke up’? He did that sometimes, see that Lian was there and listening, and quickly say goodbye. She’d never really thought it was weird, until now. 

Lian kept her eyes closed, and tried to even out her breathing, as Roy continued talking. “Okay, makes sense. Has Red gotten any new information? No? Damn, this is _bad._ Wait, you’re bringing in the aliens? D – Nightwing, what the hell are we dealing with here?” 

_…Nightwing?_ Why was that familiar? And who was ‘Red’? And aliens? This – this was getting weird now. Wait, Wing, Nightwing, okay, that was making sense. Just about the only thing that was. 

“Are you seriously eating cereal whilst we’re discussing this?” Roy asked, voice tired and exasperated. “You have a Lucky Charms addiction, I swear. Okay, we’re just passing over the bridge. Yeah. I’ll talk to her. Keep it down, I’m keeping the comm live. Alright, see you tonight.”

And with that, Roy sighed heavily, and fell into silence. 

Lian had… a _lot_ of questions. Well, no time like the present. She made a show of rousing slowly, opened her eyes and lifted her head. “Cha? What’s going on?” 

She used ‘cha’ instead of dad on purpose. It was the Vietnamese word for dad, and she used it as a kid. She stopped when she was ten, she was worried that she’d get teased for it. Now she only used it when she was tired, or sad. Or when she wanted something, not that her dad knew that last one.

Roy jumped, and yelped. “Oh! Morning!” he said, with an easy smile that Lian knew was faked. “We’re still quite a-ways away from Gotham, sweetie, you wanna go back to sleep?” He asked, craning his head slightly to see past traffic. 

“Who’s Nightwing?” She asked, faking a yawn and stretching. Roy stiffened for a moment, but then it was gone again. _Interesting_.

“Nightwing? Is that from a TV show or something?” He lied, his voice a very casual tone that almost sounded like he practiced it. 

Okay, what? Her dad _never_ lied to her, not directly. Not like that. Something was up. 

Lian tried to keep her suspicion off her face. “Could’ve sworn I heard you talking to someone. And you called them Nightwing.” 

He shot her a quick, incredulous look, before looking back to the road. “I wasn’t talking to anyone. Well, maybe myself, but not to any Nightwing.” 

What the hell? Why was he outright _lying_ to her? 

“Might’ve been a dream.” She said, but she sounded doubtful, even to herself. Roy made a small noise of agreement, before moving to flick the radio on. There was static for a while, before a thick, Gotham accent began narrating the weather for the rest of the week. 

Lian didn’t bring up Nightwing again. And she didn’t dare mention that she’d also heard him talk about a ‘Red’ or a ‘Bullseye’. She did her best to wrack her brain to remember where she’d heard the name ‘Nightwing’ before. It might’ve been something she heard on TV, like her dad had said, but she was like 90% sure that she’d never watched anything with a character with that name. It wasn’t from a show, it wasn’t from a book, it wasn’t from something one of her friends had sent her or told her about. What _was_ it?

Soon, they were crossing over into Gotham, and parking next to Jason’s apartment building. Jason himself was outside, waiting for them, smoking a cigarette. When Lian got out of the car, he quickly dropped it and crushed it under his foot. He made a point to not smoke around Lian, which she didn’t quite get.

“Hey you two.” He said, opening his arms widely in greeting. Roy laughed, ran towards him, and dramatically swooned into Jason’s arms. 

“It has been too long, my love!” Roy announced, his voice overdramatic and almost operatic, throwing an arm over his face as if he were some poor damsel. “I have been in caught in the throes of sorrow without your presence!”

“My deepest apologies, my dearest! Your absence has hurt my heart unimaginably!” Jason replied, dipping Roy until his long hair threatened to drag on the ground. Both of them were laughing wildly, and Lian was surprised Jason hadn’t dropped Roy yet.

“Damn, Romeo and Juliet are quaking.” Lian interjected through her own laughter, trying to add to the joke. But she seemingly did something wrong, as both Jason and her dad froze, and before Lian knew what was happening, her dad was stood upright again and fighting off a blush, and Jason was looking some combination of uncomfortable and guilty.

They didn’t really think that Lian was that stupid, right? They were just being friendly with one another, she got it. She was jokingly romantic with her friends, too. It really wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Let’s get everything inside, then!” her dad commented with false cheer, already running to the car and opening the trunk. 

Jason immediately followed him, saying something about how that was a good idea. He tossed the keys at Lian, and nodded towards the building. He knew she knew the apartment’s number, and she felt weirdly proud at being trusted with that information. 

She bounded up the stairs, taking two at a time, and unlocked Jason’s door, and let herself in. She dumped her backpack on the couch, and ran into the kitchen. Jason always had these nice, herbal teas stocked away, and she knew after lugging the two suitcases upstairs, both her dad and Jason would be thirsty.

Lian threw open the cupboard, grabbed three mugs, and placed them on the kitchen table, glancing at the gun resting on the table, and then turning back to – wait, _what?_

Lian stared at the gun. It – there was an _actual_ gun, just casually resting there, on Jason’s table. It was clearly real metal, judging by the way the light from the window glinted off of it. She didn’t know anything about guns, really, she couldn’t tell if it was loaded or had the safety on or anything, so it was very possible that there was a _loaded gun_ on Jason’s kitchen table, and she couldn’t decide if it was scarier loaded or unloaded.

Why… why was there, an actual, _real life_ gun in Jason’s kitchen? 

There was a sudden thump, and Lian jumped. Jason’s loud voice asking if she’d made tea, because she was predictable or something. Wait, did Jason even know there was a gun in here? What if someone had broken in and left it? It was unlikely, but this was _Gotham_ for crying out loud!

Jason came into the apartment, looked over to the kitchen – his kitchen and living room were just two sides of the same room – saw Lian staring at the gun in horror, and froze. 

Lian and Jason locked eyes. Lian swallowed dryly, and said “There’s – uh, a gun. On the table.”

Jason’s eyes widened. “Uh, yeah. It’s not real.” Was he lying? Lian couldn’t tell, she was too confused and anxious to try and figure out if he was. 

Lian frowned, and looked at the gun again, trying to keep her outward appearance calm. It sure _looked_ pretty real. And call her crazy – but she was pretty sure toy guns tended to be made of plastic, and not metal. “What is it then, if it’s not real?”

Jason fell into a practiced, relaxed posture. “It’s a decorative thing, Tim thought it’d be funny to have fake weapons on the walls – something about the place being super spartan, or whatever he was on about.”

She narrowed her eyes at Jason. “Really?” 

“Yep, really.” Jason confirmed, walking into the kitchen and grabbing the gun from the table. Lian noted, silently, that it made a weird clicking noise. Maybe it did have bullets in it? Could fake guns hold bullets? “Timmers is weird like that, did you know he once gave the guy he likes a whole bag of like – I don’t even know – like plastic robotic fish?” 

“What the – why?”

“I honestly have no clue; it might be his idea of flirting or showing affection or whatever. Timbo is a weirdo, I don’t know what to tell you.” Jason said, messing with the safety catch of the gun. “I’ll put this away, you making tea or what?”

Lian nodded, and turned back to the counter to do just that, her previous anxiety calming down slightly as she did so. Jason didn’t have a real gun – it was just a weird gag gift from Tim, which made sense, because as much as Lian _liked_ Tim, he was kind of strange. Once, when Lian was at the Manor, he’d come downstairs in a bright, neon orange hoodie, and a pair of office slacks, with a bowl of cereal swimming in coffee, and a wine glass filled with Gatorade. Lian had asked him if he was alright, and he’d downed the wine glass, set it on the floor, and said “When has anyone ever been alright?” and promptly threw himself on the nearest couch, and passed out right then and there. Apparently, according to Alfred, he hadn’t slept in like three days.

Yeah, Tim was nice and funny, but he also did things like that on a regular basis. Gifting Jason an incredibly realistic fake gun for the hell of it was not out of character for him. 

So, Jason had a fake decorative gun that she’d never seen before, her dad was lying to her… this was going to be an interesting week. 

Lian finished with the tea, and tried her best to act like everything was fine for the rest of the day, which was surprisingly uneventful. Her dad and her dropped the suitcases into the apartment, and the three of them went out for food, before coming back and starting to unpack. She was surprised to learn that she wasn’t sleeping on the couch, but in the spare room. She’d stayed at Jason’s place before, and she’d stayed in the spare room – and she assumed her dad did as well. They’d never both been at Jason’s place overnight at the same time before. Apparently, he was sharing a room with Jason. Was he gonna sleep on the floor or something? 

Lian unpacked her sketchbook, and she caught a glimpse of a practice sketch she’d done of Damian, and quickly given up on – _how_ was she even meant to draw his hair? It was ridiculous! – which made her smile. She’d almost forgotten she was going to see the Waynes over this week. Damian was a good four or five years older than her, but they were good friends. They had the whole ‘little sister/older brother’ dynamic, which Jason found hilarious for some unknown reason. Roy found it sweet, which she kind of understood. What she was really excited about, however, was that Damian did some kind of sword fighting, and he’d promised he’d let Lian watch at some point. _And_ if he was in a good mood, he might even let her hold one. 

Lian was only a simple girl, she saw a sword, she got extremely excited. Swords were _c_ _ool_ , and, plus, they were fun to draw. 

She shook her head, and finished unpacking. They weren’t going out today, they only just got there. Besides, by the time she finally finished putting everything away and had sketched for a bit, it was late, and she was tired.

Poking her head out of the spare room, and staring into the rest of the apartment, she saw Roy sat on the floor in front of the couch, watching the TV, and Jason was sat behind him, trying to braid his long hair, his tongue poking out in concentration, both of them only illuminated by the flashing colours of the television screen. 

“Oh, hi there.” Her dad said, looking away from the television, his pale face slightly eerie being lit up by green and blue and yellow. “You alright, Princess?”

Lian nodded. “Yeah; I’m just going to bed now. G’night.”

“G’night, Princess.” Her dad said, looking back to the TV.

“Night Lian.” Jason said, not looking up from his clumsy braid. 

She smiled. The three of them were all so used to each other, that even a casual situation felt incredibly soft and domestic. It was nice. She closed the door softly, and climbed into the small, narrow bed, already thinking about what she was going to do tomorrow, before slowly drifting off.

Lian slept until roughly three am, where she woke up to the sounds of people talking. She squinted in the darkness, and realised that there was a soft yellow light spilling out from under her door. She frowned, and slowly slipped out of bed, as quietly as possible. She tiptoed across the floor, and pressed her ear to the seam of the door. 

“-m telling you, this is bigger than it looks.” Jason’s muffled voice said, sounding vaguely desperate. “I wouldn’t have brought them if it weren’t a big deal.” 

“Did you really have to bring Lian? It’s dangerous!” another, vaguely familiar voice said. This one female, and sharp. Hm, Lian knew that voice. But from where? And the voice clearly knew her. 

“I _know_ that. Roy already feels guilty enough about her being here, you _don’t_ need to rub it in.” Jason’s voice replied. “Look, don’t you have better things to do? Like tracking mask?” 

…Mask? Tracking? Tracking a mask?

“Low blow, Jay. Low blow.” The female voice replied, sounding vaguely amused now. “Okay, I get the idea. I’ll buzz off. Seriously though, keep her safe. You of all people should know –” 

Jason scoffed. “To quote you, low blow. I’ll see you tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, I’ll bring Tim. If he’s not… preoccupied.”

“Really? He’s _still_ pining?”

“Oh yeah. It’s hilarious. Anyway, see ya, Jaybird!” 

“You don’t have Jaybird privileges! – and she’s gone.” 

Lian pulled her ear away from the door, and almost ran back into her bed as Jason sighed heavily, and walked around the apartment, before turning the light off and she assumed going into his room. Lian’s mind was whirling. Gotham wasn’t safe? What would Jason, ‘of all people’, should know? Who was the woman he was speaking to? Tim was pining over someone, which _really_ felt insignificant compared to everything else. Did her dad know any of this? What the _fuck_ was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Wow, Lian is so oblivious" - me, writing Lian being oblivious.
> 
> I wonder who Jason was speaking to? Guess you'll have to stick around to find out ;D
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter, a wild Damian appears.


	3. And Turning All Against The One,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damian and Tim make their entrances, Lian is onto the batfam *-*
> 
> (also, why are memes seemingly exactly the same roughly five years into the future? because they are!)
> 
> Chapter title taken from "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" by The Offspring, but you knew that already.

“You alright, Lian? You look exhausted.” Jason commented, passing her the carton of milk over the table. He himself didn’t comment on the fact he also looked exhausted. 

Lian rubbed her eyes as she poured milk over her cheerio’s. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep much.” She confessed, punctuating the end of her sentence with a yawn. 

Jason gave her a concerned look as he slid Roy a mug of coffee over the table. Her dad was always terrible in the mornings, but today he was especially bad. He had his head resting on the table, and his arms crossed over it, and his long hair was sticking up in awkward places. He made a small noise of thanks as Jason nudged his arm with the handle of the mug. 

“Why’s that? It’s not the bed, is it? I did buy it pretty cheap.” Jason guessed, finally starting to eat his own cereal. Lian shook her head, and stared down at her breakfast. It unfortunately, did not offer her any advice on whether or not to be honest.

“Well, I woke up in the middle of the night. Thought I heard you talking to someone.” She said, choosing her words carefully. She reckoned that if she straight up said ‘you arguing with some random woman at three in the goddamn morning woke me up, and also, are you a criminal or something?’ would have a similar result to what happened with her dad yesterday. An outright denial and lie for an answer, and more questions left unanswered. 

“Pro’lly a dream.” Roy mumbled from under his mess of limbs and hair, before detangling himself, and grabbing his coffee, and immediately burning his tongue on it. 

Jason chuckled quietly as Roy swore as under his breath. “Yeah, what your dad said. Anyway, is there anything you wanna do today?”

Lian chewed on her cereal, and thought about it. “Can I go to the Manor? Damian promised me he’d let me see some sword-fighting moves, and I haven’t seen Alfred in _ages.”_ She said, toeing at the floorboards. “Is that alright?”

“Should probably ask Damian that. And Alfred.” Roy mumbled, attempting another sip at his coffee. “You should text ‘em, Jaybird.” 

Jason nodded. “Later, once Dami’ll be awake. I swear, if he had the chance, he’d sleep all day and just stay awake at night. He’s this close,” Jason held up his thumb and forefinger, so close they were practically touching, “to becoming fully nocturnal.”

“Like Tim? Or a bat?” Lian asked, thinking back to all the nocturnal animals she knew. Roy laughed as Jason spluttered. 

“Sure, like Tim. Speaking of which, he might also be hanging around the Manor. Mentioned that he was staying for a while or something.” Jason commented, looking over to Roy subtly. Roy glanced towards the bedroom door quickly, and then back to Jason, so quickly that Lian wouldn’t have noticed if she weren’t looking for it. 

What did _that_ mean?

“Cool. I like Tim.” Lian announced. There was nothing really more to be said, so the three of them continued eating in an easy silence, the news playing on the television softly in the background. 

Soon, Jason had texted Damian, and was throwing Lian a helmet, which had her excited beyond belief. She _loved_ Jason’s motorbike, it was loud, it was fast, and it was shiny, three things that Lian adored. Her dad was staying behind at Jason’s place before heading out for some freelancing things, job stuff and all, and Jason was dropping her off at the Manor before joining Roy. 

Lian could barely stop grinning as she held onto Jason as he drove them through Gotham. She always loved watching all the blocky apartment buildings turn into houses, and watching those turn into even bigger houses, and watching _those_ drop away into giant yards, until they came to the familiar wrought iron fence.

Jason stopped the bike, but left the engine running, and kicked out the handle thing that the bike rested on – Lian still didn’t know the name of it – and walked up to the little radio thing on the fence – Lian didn’t know the name of that either – and pressed on the button as Lian jumped off to stretch her legs. 

“Heya Alfie, yeah, it’s Jay, I’m dropping Lian off, remember? Can you open the – thanks!” he jumped back from the fence as the old gate swung open remotely. Jason gestured for her to get back on the bike, and then the two of them were motoring up the driveway.

Lian jumped off the bike, pulled off her helmet, and shook out her hair. She grinned up at the Manor, looking to see if anyone was in the windows. She _swore_ she saw Damian in one, but she couldn’t be sure. She was practically bouncing in excitement as Jason knocked on the door and was pulled into a hug with Alfred once it opened. 

“Master Jason, Miss Lian! How delightful to see you both again.” Alfred said with a polite smile. “Come in, Miss Lian. Master Jason, will you be staying?”

“Nah, sorry Alfie. Just dropping Lian off. I’m helping Roy out today, we’re… going out.” He said, waving his hand in a way that was meant to be nonchalant. But there was something in the glace that was sent between the two of them that just didn’t make it so. 

“Freelance stuff?” Lian asked, trying to be polite, even though she really wanted to go find Damian. 

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, why don’t you go find Damian? I really need to motor.” He suggested, tapping the back of her shoulder to mean ‘go on then’. She didn’t need much convincing.

“You need to stop quoting Heathers.” Lian commented, before rushing off into the Manor. 

Oh, Wayne Manor, with its high ceilings, pseudo-Victorian aesthetic, and, she was sure, at least _one_ secret passageway, how she had missed it! 

And, as she made her way into the living room, there was someone she’d missed as well. 

Damian was sat on one of the couches, reading a book, ‘Lord of The Flies’. Lian had read a bit of that, but the language had been a little too dense at the time. She might try and pick it up again soon. 

Damian still hadn’t noticed her, so she had a rare opportunity to sneak up on him. She suppressed a giggle, and crept over as slowly and silently as possible. She dared to lean over the back of the couch, and say right next to Damian’s ear “You know, I never really liked that book much.”

To her disappointment, Damian didn’t jump or startle, instead he turned his head and gave her a small, but enthusiastic, smile. “Oh, hello there Lian, and why do you dislike Lord of The Flies so much?” 

“You weren’t scared? Not even a little?” she asked, disbelief settling into her voice. “I thought I was being sneaky!”

Damian shrugged, and closed the book with that nice snapping sound that hardcovers made. “And you were, I’m just sneakier.”

“That’s so unfair!” she said with a sigh, draping herself over the back of the couch. “Why are you sneaky in the first place? Where did you learn?”

He raised an eyebrow, and said in a flat voice, “I was raised from birth to be a perfect stealth killer by ninjas and the best assassins in the world.”

Lian laughed. “Okay, but really, _how?”_

Damian shrugged again, pushing himself off of the couch. “I don’t entirely know, must be good genes. Father tends to sneak as well, doesn’t he?” he commented, grabbing the book and adjusting the bookmark in it. “Now, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. Any interesting life updates?”

They always did this. As they could go a good few months without seeing each other, and Lian didn’t have his phone number – she just kept forgetting to ask! – they couldn’t exactly keep updated. So, every time they saw each other, they’d do life updates. She shrugged, and pushed herself up onto the top of the couch, and rolled over, flopping on to where Damian had been previously sitting, before he’d gone to put his book away. 

“I submitted a sketch with that new shading thing you taught me for art class, and it got a B+.” She said, picking out stuff Damian would actually find interesting. “I hit two bullseyes in a row on Sunday, at practice. Nothing much going on – although, dad’s been acting weird.” She added the last bit on as an afterthought. 

“Oh, how so?” 

“He’s just been… weird. He’s been acting all nice with Jay, but whenever I come into the room, they act like they weren’t doing anything.” She said, holding up her hand, and keeping count on her fingers. One, “Uh – he was talking to someone on the phone on the way here, I think. He didn’t have his phone out, though. I was asleep, then I woke up, but he didn’t know, so he kept talking.” She counted that as number two. 

She shifted into a sitting position as Damian sat next to her, and moved so he was sat cross-legged on the couch, which looked kind of funny for such a serious eighteen-year-old.

“And he was talking to someone called Nightwing.” Lian finished, counting that as number three. “Jay’s been acting weird too, but Jay is always weird. The Nightwing thing is really bugging me, though.”

Damian tilted his head at that. Did he recognise the name as well? 

“Nightwing? Sounds like a stripper name.” He said, clearly showing his distaste. Lian snorted. 

“No, it doesn’t – sounds like a vigilante name or something.” She said, musing over it. That’s when it hit her. “Oh! It is a vigilante name! Aren’t they from Blüdhaven? I _knew_ I recognised it!”

Damian looked away for a second. “Mm, I think. I’m not that invested in vigilantes or heroes, so that’s probably why I don’t recognise it.” He shook his head, as if to clear the thoughts from it. “Wait, you’re not insinuating that you believe your father was talking to a vigilante from Blüdhaven, are you?”

Lian gave him an incredulous – _see?_ She knew big words too, Damian – look. “No, that’d be stupid. But it might be a nickname for someone. I know these two girls in school who call each other Daphne and Velma. You know, like from Scooby Doo?” 

“I’m not saying your dad isn’t the type for stupid nicknames for his friends,” Damian said, which made Lian laugh, “but… that’s exactly what I’m saying. And that’s the tea.”

Lian mock-gasped. “Damian! You memed! Kind of! You… you used internet slang!” she said, clapping her hands appreciatively. 

Damian frowned, realising what he’d said. “Oh god, I did. Blame Jon for that, he’s been ruining my vocabulary for years.”

Lian had half forgotten about Jon, to be completely honest. She knew he and Damian were really good friends, just as close as her dad and Jason if not more so, but Lian hadn’t seen him in ages. He was always nice when he spoke to her, though.

“I will give Jon my thanks.” She said seriously, mimicking Damian’s serious tone. “What about your life update? Anything fun?”

“A girl caught me walking out of college three days ago, screamed, proposed to me, and hyperventilated. I had to help her calm down. It was embarrassing for everyone.” Damian commented dryly. 

She wrinkled her nose at that. “Being famous sounds shitty.”

“It is. How much is that worth for the swear jar?” 

“Like, a quarter. Anything else?”

Damian hummed quietly. “Jon is strong enough to pick me up with no problem. Which isn’t really important, but when we were training, I jumped him, and he barely reacted. Which was infuriating. He literally just picked me up and carried on.” 

Lian snorted. “How strong _is_ he?” she joked, but something stuck out about that update. “Wait, training? Does Jon do sword-fighting as well?”

“No, he trains with me to keep in shape and to spend time with me simultaneously.” Damian said, the response being slightly… well, it felt a little canned. Or practiced. 

Everyone was practicing their responses lately, huh? 

“Speaking of swords, can I see some? You promised me I could!”

Damian nodded, and stood up, and beckoned for her to follow, which she did happily. 

Hours later, after learning a whole three sword-fighting moves – _fencing,_ it was similar but different to what Damian did, and of _course_ he could do that as well – and appreciated the shiny blades of Damian’s favourites, the two of them were slumped on the bean bags in the games/media room, playing Minecraft peacefully. 

“We need to build another farm.” Lian commented, handling the controller clumsily. “Ooh, can we have some rainbow sheep?”

Damian nodded. “Yes, of course. I’m surprised we haven’t got some already.”

There was a sudden noise as the door was pushed open, and a very tired looking Tim poked his head in. Oh yeah, Jason had mentioned that Tim might be there.

“Demon brat, can you get me that poison iv –” Tim began, before noticing Lian, he didn’t stop talking however. “– Iv –iiiiiii’ve not seen you in here for a while, hi there Lian!”

What? That was literally the most obvious attempt at hiding something she’d ever seen. Ever. And her dad was Roy Harper.

“Hi Tim.” She said, giving him a confused smile. “What’s up?”

Tim rubbed at his eyes, and Lian realised he looked exhausted. Which was perfectly normal, but he looked worse than usual. “Uh, the sky. Damian, seriously, can I get that poison – poison ivy _remover._ I need it.”

“You can wait; I’m building a pen for our rainbow sheep.” Damian responded flatly. “Lian, I need some more fences, can you knock down some trees?” 

“No, I can’t, poison ivy is all over… Kon’s building, it’s getting ridiculous.” Tim said, voice urgent. At that, Damian sighed, and hit pause on his section of the screen. 

“Alright, I’ll see if I’ve still got it.” He said, reluctantly standing up. “Lian, you can get started on those rainbow sheep. There should be some dyes in the chest room.”

Lian laughed privately to herself as Tim and Damian left the room. Damian was always so serious about everything, even video games. It was funny.

It didn’t take long for Lian to pick up on yelling. Even though they were grown-ups now – well, Damian was in spirit – they still fought like when they were kids occasionally. Lian hit pause on the game, and listened in. Were they arguing about poison ivy? That’d be interesting to hear.

“–otally irresponsible!” That was Damian. Why did he sound worried?

“Well we can’t just send them home! We need Arsenal and Red Hood for this. I’d like to see you try and think of a reason we do not _need_ an archer.” Tim argued. Red Hood, Lian vaguely recognised the name, but couldn’t quite place. She’d go out on a limb and say, because of Arsenal, he was a vigilante. Arsenal, however, she did recognise immediately. He was a Star City hero, but he showed up in other places all the time. Why were Tim and Damian talking about Arsenal and Red Hood? Damian had said he wasn't that invested in heroes, right?

“Look, if Roy thought she was asleep, he couldn’t have known. He was working with what he had in the situation.” Tim argued. 

“We _cannot_ get her suspicions up.” Damian replied, yeah, he definitely sounded worried. “It could be disastrous.” 

“I _know_ that, but we’re all spread a little thin at the moment. If you wanna shoulder the responsibility, be my guest.” 

Lian frowned. Something was up. Something was definitely up. She was tempted to sneak out into the hallway to confront them, but if she’d learnt anything about the apparent situation that was going on, it’s that she wasn’t meant to know anything. If she wanted to find out what was going on, she’d need to do some detective work.

“Jason has been careless. Lian found a gun when she walked into his apartment, just sitting there in the open.” Damian snapped. “It might be beneficial to have him do it.”

“You just don’t wanna be benched.” 

“I’m not _wrong_ though.”

“Look – just, just work with it. Okay? B is exhausted, so we’ll actually have to work together. To your horror, I know. Just go play Minecraft and keep it under control. Ivy is linked to this somehow, and I gotta find out. Jay and Roy are doing their best, and Dick is working with the girls, so you’re really the only person that can do this.”

…what?

Lian had a sudden, chilling thought. Was She involved with all of… whatever was going on? And she didn’t even know? God, it was like whatever was happening was a giant chess game, and she was a lowly pawn. And blindfolded. And no one was giving running commentary on the game. 

  
The two of them stopped talking, or at least, talking loud enough for Lian to hear, so she scrambled for the controller, hit ‘unpause’, and forced her character to run into the virtual chest room. 

Damian came back, and flopped onto his bean bag. “Well, that was boring.” He announced, grabbing his own controller. “Now, where were we?”

“You were building a pen.” Lian said, squashing the sudden feeling of bitterness she had at Damian. He was being just like everyone else, and _not telling her what was going on._

Because, Apparently, from what it sounded like, her dad, Jason, Tim, Damian, B – who she was assuming was Bruce, and possibly Dick were all involved with vigilantes for some reason, and something big was happening, and Lian was very possibly involved without her own knowledge. 

But she had a right to know what was happening, right? If she was in the middle of… a mafia gang war, or whatever, she should know if she was gonna get caught in the crossfire. Which was terrifying to think, but nothing seemed 100% real at the moment. She needed proof – of what, she wasn’t sure. But there was a mystery right in front of her eyes, and she needed to solve it. If not just to satisfy her own curiosity. 

Lian needed a plan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> watch out batfam, Lian is suspicious and has free time. she's onto you


	4. Is An Art That's Hard To Teach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, I've been writing about Lian a lot. She's just so much fun, I love this kid.

Lian knew this was probably not the most moral thing in the world. She knew it. But she was scared and curious and a little desperate. 

She lied to Damian, first of all, which she wasn’t happy about, but hey, they were even now. She said that Jason had texted and said he was going to be out longer than expected, and would be fine with her going back to his place and staying there alone for a bit. Damian was probably suspicious, but Lian had an extra key and it was pathetically easy to fake a text from Jason – all she had to do was change the contact name in her phone and scroll up to a text sent weeks ago – so Damian made sure that Alfred drove her back when she asked. 

Lian was searching the place. Jason was a secretive guy, and she respected his privacy. Most of the time. But most of the time, she wasn’t half convinced that the Waynes weren’t secretly running the mafia and that her dad was very tangled up in it with them. 

She’d come to that particular conclusion on the drive back. She’d texted Jason – saying that she was staying a little later at the Manor, and that Alfred would drive her back so he didn’t need to come pick her up – and had rested her head against the window, her mind racing. Her dad, Damian, Jason, and probably Tim were all lying to her. Something was happening in Gotham, and it was potentially dangerous. They needed dad for his archery skills, and he was definitely not here for ‘job stuff’. They were involved with vigilantes. Lian was caught up in all of this without even knowing – and nothing about any of this made sense. Aside from crime. That’s what had to be going on, right? 

Constant discussion of vigilantes, talking about ‘cases’, and leads, like with detective stuff? And, Lian was convinced, that wasn’t a fake gun Jason had. It all felt too – too well organised. Too much like this had been going on for a while. The practiced gestures, the lying – it was crime stuff. It had to be.

She really wasn’t happy to think about it, but it sounded, and _looked_ like, the mafia. Or some drug ring. Or – or even one of those costumed Gotham rogues. She didn’t know. She just knew that Jason was involved, and she didn’t like the sound of it.

She’d said goodbye to Alfred quickly, and had rushed inside, and immediately started uprooting the place. She went room by room, remembering to take a picture of what it looked like before she ransacked it so she could put it all back together again. Lian wasn’t an idiot, and if she was right, she didn’t exactly have the option to be. 

The kitchen was completely innocent. The most suspicious thing in there was a box of Lucky Charms, with a post it note with ‘ _THIS IS FOR ME AND ME ALONE, JAYBIRD -Dick_ ’ written in a familiar looping scrawl. It was heartbreakingly normal and sibling-y. 

Jason’s bedroom was completely normal as well, although, he had a surprisingly large amount of incredibly soft blankets stashed away. The bathroom yielded some interesting results – Jason had some surprisingly strong painkillers in the bathroom, along with bandages and a needle and sterile thread.

Going out at night and possibly fighting with Gotham vigilantes most likely didn’t leave one uninjured, after all.

Her own room was completely normal as well, which was simultaneously relieving, and infuriating. It was a relief because she wasn’t breathing in cocaine during the middle of the night, but it was infuriating because… well, she might be looking for excuses. But the organised crime thing was the _only_ explanation that wasn’t packed-full of coincidences. There had to be _something,_ right?

Lian was trying the living room, just about to give up. She rifled through the slim drawers in Jason’s coffee table. The only thing in there were outdated car magazines from like ten years ago, and an unopened box of tissues. Why was Jason so _normal?_ His apartment was literally the most normal thing Lian had ever seen in her life, but not so normal that it was suspicious. Well, one thing was really weird. None of the floorboards creaked. At all. But she assumed that was because Bruce Wayne was a billionaire, and could afford to fix little things like that for his son.

She was mad about it. It was so – so – just the _opposite_ if what she’d been hoping or dreading for it to be.

Holding up a leftover coffee mug – her dad’s, Jason hated coffee – she tried tilting the coffee table to see if there was anything on the underside. Just as she was able to get a decent look, she inched one of her knees forward as she leant in, and as she rested her weight on the scratchy rug, the floor under it creaked. 

Lian froze. No creaky floorboards. All except one. 

Yeah, that wasn’t going uninvestigated. 

Working as quickly as she could, Lian put the mug somewhere in the kitchen, dragged the coffee table off of the rug, and pulled the rug back. Just as she’d hoped for, one floorboard was slightly askew. And, she realised, surprising herself with how she noticed that, the dust patterns were weird. 

She ran one finger along the seam of the floorboard. There had to be something there that gave it some kind of leverage or – _aha._ There it was. It was raised slightly at the end. She wiggled her finger under it experimentally, and found it was shockingly easy to get all five fingers under, and to pull it back. 

Lian thought that the whole ‘jaw dropping in shock’ was a movie trope exclusively, but as she quickly realised, having her mouth agape, ready to say something but no words coming out, absolutely happened in real life. 

There was the gun. The gun that Jason had promised was a fake. And three others. And there were boxes, slim boxes filled with rubber bullets, and one that was made of metal instead of cheap plastic, and the bullets inside were still rubber, but they had weird green shards stuck inside of them, that glowed faintly in the weak Gotham sun. All sitting under the floorboards. And what looked like detective files, but Lian was afraid to touch those. She didn’t like the look of them at all.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. _Okay._ This was fine. Everything was fine. 

Oh, who was she kidding, _this was a goddamn nightmare_. Jason had not one, not two, but _four_ real guns, tons of rubber bullets, detective case files, under the floorboards, under a rug, under a table – this couldn’t be more suspicious if he _tried._

Shakily getting her phone out from her pocket, Lian snapped a few photos. One of the floorboard closed, one of it open and showing the contents, and a few of her just holding a few items up, closer to the camera. 

She did _not_ like the feel of a gun in her hand. Not at all.

Her phone buzzed, making her yelp in the silence of the apartment. 

**Dad: Omw, have a good time at the manor?**

Shit. 

**Me: Yeah, played minecraft w/ Dami. Tell you about it once you’re back**   
**Me: Jason with you?**   
**Dad: yeah hes with me**   
**Dad: 15 mins away, see you <3**

Shit. _Shit. SHIT._

Lian quickly piled everything back into the space under the floorboards, put all the furniture back where it was, and made herself a cup of tea and turned on some random kids’ channel in record time. She was just settling down into her visage of ‘normal kid sat on the couch watching cartoons who totally hadn’t just snooped through this entire apartment like a freaking weirdo’ when her dad and Jason walked through the door. 

“Heya Princess!” Roy said with a wide, genuine smile. “So, how was Damian? How was Alfred? Did you see Tim?” he asked, flopping down on the couch next to her. Jason, however, was giving the apartment a once over. He could tell something was off. Lian hoped to God he’d be unobservant just this _one_ time. 

“They’re both good, and yeah, Tim was around.” She responded, blowing the steam off of her tea. “How was your job thingy?” 

Roy shrugged, and bent down to take off his shoes. “Eh, boring. Wasn’t it, Jaybird?” he called the last bit. 

Jason blinked, and seemingly realised Roy had been talking to him. “Oh – yeah, it was dull as shit.”

“Owe me a quarter.” Lian called back on instinct. When you were staying at someone else’s, and you didn’t have a swear jar, you had a swear debt. 

The three of them fell into an easy rhythm, but there was a tense undercurrent to it. Jason knew something was off, and that was probably unnerving him, Lian knew that Jason knew that something was off, she was slightly on edge because her trust in the two of them… it wasn’t _gone,_ but it was certainly fragile, and the plan for tonight she was slowly stitching together was making her antsy. And Roy, he knew both of them so well, he was definitely picking up on both of their moods, but was nice enough to not say anything.

It felt as if they were all on a tightrope, and if one person made a wrong move, they’d all come tumbling down. 

Lian tried to keep everything normal, she chatted about her trip to the Manor over dinner, laughed at some dumb quiz show with her dad, said goodnight to both of them, and got dressed into what Jason and her dad believed to be pyjamas as quietly as possible. 

She laid down stiffly, feeling too warm. But she had a plan, motivating fear sitting heavily in her gut, a burning curiosity in her chest, and nowhere to be in the morning. She had no reason to stop, and no one to stop her.

It took a good couple of hours, but as the digital clock on the nightstand struck half-ten, she heard voices talking quietly, and then Roy and Jason’s footsteps were going around the apartment, the clunking of furniture being moved, a slight creak – the floorboard – and the rustling of fabric. 

Half an hour later – really? That took a lot longer than Lian expected – there was a quiet creak of what sounded like a window, and then… there were footsteps, but they were quieter, and then they were gone. There was a quiet noise as the window closed, and then there was silence.

Lian stared at the wall. They’d gone out the window. What kind of –

Lian threw off her sheets, and jumped to her feet. She was wearing a thin, black hoodie that zipped up all the way over her nose, black jeans, and she was already pulling on sturdy boots. It was a good thing she’d picked something she could move in, as she was apparently _roof jumping_ tonight.

God, her life was weird. Her life was so weird. How in the _hell_ had she thought her life was normal?

She ran over to the living room, and ducked under the blinds, and checked outside. She could’ve sworn there was a fire escape on the side of Jason’s building, but there was nothing there. And all the other windows weren’t big enough to climb out of, or didn’t face another building, or –

Wait. Jason’s room.

Lian nearly tripped over her own feet, running to Jason’s room in the dark. She quickly opened the door, and saw the window. It was _definitely_ big enough for a grown man to climb through, so Lian, being a scrawny thirteen-year-old, would have no trouble. And, if she checked – yep. Fire escape. Old and rusty, and hanging over an alleyway, but a fire escape. 

She quickly opened the window, and was hit by a blast of cold air. She shivered, braced herself against the wall, jumped up, and swung her leg over. She jumped onto the fire escape, cringing at the groaning sound it made, and shut the window as quickly as she could. Okay, outside in Gotham, at eleven o’clock at night, about to go jumping across roofs. Jeez, you’d think she was auditioning for Batgirl or something.

She began her climb up the fire escape, going slowly, because she was unfamiliar with it, and it was dark. It was weirdly cold for June, even in Gotham. She was shivering, and she could’ve sworn she saw her breath at least once. Although, that could just be anxiety and the dark playing tricks on her eyes. 

Luckily, the fire escape went all the way to the flat roof. She clambered over the edge, and jumped onto the roof, falling into a crouch. She straightened up, and looked around. Gotham was surprisingly nice from all the way up here – but she didn’t have time to enjoy the scenery. Where were Roy and Jason?

Lian kept her eyes trained on the outline of the other building’s roofs. There was a surprising amount of light up here, from the street lamps below and the lights in buildings, she could see quite well. But she couldn’t see – _there._

The outline of two men, and they were talking, just the next building over. How did they even get over there? More importantly, how was Lian getting over there without arousing suspicion? 

She walked to the edge of the roof, and stared at the small gap between the two buildings. She couldn’t be sure if it was actually Jason and Roy, but she had to know. 

Her dad had always said she was too reckless for her own good. Not that he could talk, that is. That was something they had in common – neither one of them knew exactly when to quit.

Lian hoisted herself up onto the edge, and stared. They still hadn’t noticed her yet, and they looked like they were moving. Good. Lian braced herself, took in a deep breath, and jumped. 

For a terrifying moment, she was weightless. And then her feet hit concrete, and her body followed, she tucked herself into a roll in order not to hurt herself. Middle school phys. ed hadn’t been totally useless after all. 

She had landed behind the massive air conditioner. It was large enough that if she huddled in on herself, she would be completely hidden. The sound of footsteps suddenly stopped, and Lian froze. They heard her.

“Hear that?” a voice asked, weirdly distorted and almost robotic. Lian felt like there was a vice around her heart. Jesus fuck, what was she _doing?_

There was no response except for a quiet hum, and the vice around Lian’s heart squeezed even tighter. What was she _doing_ here? She was _thirteen,_ had nothing to defend herself with, and she had decided that rooftop jumping and looking for her possibly criminal dad and – well, Jason was really her second dad at this point – was a good idea, and it was only just now occurring to her that the two men talking to each other on a rooftop in Gotham might just be the one thing Gotham was pretty damn famous for, _vigilantes._

Lian had made stupid decisions in the past, like trying to cut her own hair with craft scissors, or trying to walk in six-inch heels on Halloween because it was part of her costume – but this? This really blew all of those out of the water.

“Probably a rat or something.” The distorted voice said. “Let’s go – I hear Harley is up to something downtown.”

“Oh, Harley – hah, I did not miss her. And that _mallet,_ yikes.” A shockingly familiar voice said. Wait, why was that so familiar? It almost sounded like – and Lian really didn’t want to say this – it sounded like her dad. 

Steeling herself, Lian moved as slowly as she dared to, poking her head out behind the air conditioning, and getting a good look at whoever was running across the rooftop and jumping to the next building. 

Red costume, red bow, red hair…

Fuck. Lian was on the same roof as Arsenal. Huh, Arsenal apparently sounded very similar to her dad. Who knew? And the guy he was talking to – brown leather jacket, was that a bat symbol? And the helmet – oh, that’s probably why his voice was all distorted – yeah, that was Red Hood. 

Great. She was hiding, on a rooftop, with Arsenal and Red Hood, the latter of those being a goddamn Bat, and they were _freaky._ Lian had heard the rumours, everyone had, and frankly they seemed more and more unbelievable as days went on. 

There was a heavy sound as the two of them landed on another rooftop, and then there was an eerie silence, the only noise being her own breathing, and the quiet bustle of the city below. Lian was alone.

She put her head in her hands, and said quietly, “Jesus fucking Christ.”

She sat there for maybe ten minutes, fighting off the cold. She – she’d just gone and done something potentially _incredibly_ stupid, and she needed a little time to process all of that. Once she had gotten over the whole ‘ _holy fucking shit that just happened_ ’ feeling, she straightened up, jumped back across to Jason’s building, climbed down the fire escape, opened the window, and crawled back into the apartment.

Lian sat on the floor of Jason’s bedroom, and felt the weird urge to yell. She felt more confused and shocked and frustrated because she still hadn’t learnt anything new and still had a lot of leftover anxiety – she needed to calm down. 

She shakily got to her feet and did the only thing she knew worked 100% of the time. She made tea. It kept her hands busy, and she had to focus to make sure she didn’t mess it up. 

Leaving her tea on the side, she went into her room, and changed into pyjamas, kicked her night-time disguise under her bed, and grabbed her sketchbook. She knew that Roy and Jason, wherever they were, weren’t going to be back for a while. And if finishing her sketch of Wonder Woman that she’d started days ago with a midnight cup of tea was what it took to calm her nerves, well, she’d do just that. 

She eventually did fall asleep, but when she did, she dreamt of bats, and woke up the next day feeling like she had no rest at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooooooooooooooo
> 
> I wonder what's happening in Gotham? Guess we'll have to stick around to find out


	5. Another Clever Word,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> featuring: Roy being a good dad, Cass, Jon, Lian's love of cars, a new ship being introduced, and more! 
> 
> chapter title is taken from "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" by The Offspring, of course, what else. 
> 
> no one:  
> me: *gives Jon my dream car bc its what he deserves*

Lian ate her breakfast in silence. Jason had gone out early for something – probably trafficking drugs or whatever the mafia did – and it was only her and her dad in.

She had a hoodie on over her pyjamas, the chill from last night apparently still around, and bleeding into the apartment, slowly sapping the heat from around them. She knew Gotham was cold, but really? It was _June._

Once she finished eating, she looked up to see her dad sat right across from her, arms folded, and looking somewhere in between unimpressed and concerned. He looked just about as serious as a guy with his hair done in a braid and secured with a bright green hairband could look.

“Lian, are you okay? You’ve been acting weird.” He said, shifting forwards. “Is there anything wrong?” he asked kindly, and that made Lian’s heart hurt. What exactly could she say? No, everything isn’t alright because I think I found out you’re in the mafia and I couldn’t follow you last night because I ran into a pair of vigilantes?

She shrugged. “I don’t know – I just…” quick, what was a believable excuse? “It’s just a bit weird, being in Gotham. It’s throwing me off a little.”  
  


Roy frowned, looking concerned. “Do you wanna go home? I can get Ollie or Dinah – maybe Artemis is free –”

She shook her head. “No! No, I don’t wanna go home, I’m fine. It’s just – I heard something about how someone had blown something up pretty close to here, Harley something, and it freaked me out a bit.” She said, thinking fast.

“Harley Quinn.” He corrected automatically. “And I didn’t hear anything about there being an explosion near here…” he said, and Lian could _he_ _ar_ the suspicion leaking into his voice.

Okay, crap, he was onto her.

“…It was an old article. I found it when I was looking for references, for art.” She lied, thinking on the spot. “It’s fine, it just spooked me a bit.”  
  


Roy frowned, clearly unconvinced. “Okay, if you’re sure. If you get freaked by anything, you come talk to me. Or Jay.” He said. “Okay?”

Lian nodded, feeling like there was cotton in her mouth. “Okay. Um – anything planned for today?”

Her dad leaned back in his chair, and brought his arms up to knit his fingers behind his head. “Eh, not really. Is there anything you want to do? I need to do something at around four-ish, but that’s pretty much the entire day. And we’re having dinner at the Manor, by the way. If you want, I can drop you off when I need to go?”

Lian nodded. “Sounds good.”

“You still need to pick somewhere to go for the day though, Princess.” He reminded her, pulling out his phone and texting someone, maybe Bruce or Damian or Alfred – she didn’t know who he had in his phone.

Lian looked at the floor, and tried to think of something normal they could do. “We… we could go to that comic book store? I like that place. They definitely have those really old ones in stock, and I’m missing the nineteenth issue of the original _Iron Man_ series.” She babbled. Roy smiled widely, and nodded.

“Course we can. I’ve had my eye on those original Spiderman comics for a while – hey, did you know there’s a version of Spiderman where he’s a pig?”

“ _What_? That’s insane!”

“I know! What’s even better, is that he was originally a spider, he was bitten by a radioactive pig.”

“That’s _wild_.”

It was easy to pretend everything was normal, for a while. They went to the comics store, Lian laughed when Roy got incredibly excited over finding a genuine vintage comic from the 1950’s, and Roy laughed at her when they went to that Batman-themed diner, and she was surprised when Joker fries were doused in purple sauce. It was a nice day out.

And Lian was on edge throughout all of it.

A fake gun hung in the window of a costume store looked suspicious, Roy checking his phone made her tense up, literally anything and everything seemed to point to what was happening under the surface.

Maybe she was just paranoid.

Her dad dropped her off at Wayne Manor at half three – and Lian was simultaneously disappointed to not spend more time with him, and relieved, because maybe she’d be able to relax a little.

She knocked on the door, and grinned when instead of Alfred opening it, it was Bruce.

“Hiya, Bruce!” she said cheerfully. Bruce smiled at her, and stood aside for her to walk in.

“Hello Lian, it’s been a while. I’m sorry I couldn’t see you yesterday, I was –” he began to explain, but Lian cut him off by shrugging, and saying,

“Yeah, I get it. You’re busy. Doing… business…” she frowned. “Wait, business. Busy-ness. Oh my god, I just figured it out.” She said wisely, looking down at the floor like her mind was blown. She was amping it up a bit, but it was for comedy’s sake.

Bruce blinked down at her, seemingly not getting the joke. “…Right. Damian should be in his room, if you want to share that revelation with him.” He offered, tilting his head towards the staircase. Lian nodded, and rushed off. She liked Bruce, but he was kinda old. And she really wanted to talk to someone who had a bit more chance of relating to her.

She paused once she actually got to Damian’s room, her hand hovering over the handle. Could she really talk to Damian about this…? If she was right, and his family were some kind of mafia or something, would he be in on it? Would he lie to her like everyone else was doing? Would the family put a hit out on her or something? Was it _safe_? Why hadn’t Lian thought of this before?

Damian was her friend. And she had to trust him. If she couldn’t trust him, she’d have no one. And that thought alone was enough to terrify her.

“Lian?” a quiet, soft voice asked. Lian yelped, and whirled around to see Damian’s older sister, Cassandra.

She relaxed, and smiled. She hadn’t seen Cass in a while, and she kind of forgot how much she’d missed her. “Hey, Cass. What’s up?”

“You’re afraid to see Damian.” she stated, rather than asked, flicking her eyes towards the door. Ah, right. Lian had forgot that Cass could basically read minds.

“Uh, yeah. A little.” Quick, think of an excuse that makes sense! “I… uh,”

“You’re scrambling.” Cass said disapprovingly. “Come with me, we can talk.”

Ah. Great. That was simultaneously worse, because Cass was onto her, and better, because she had more time to think of an excuse. Which was also _worse_ , because she’d spend all that time thinking of a good excuse, and then Cass would see she’s lying immediately.

Lian was really in between a rock and a hard place, huh?

She followed Cass through the Manor, going past familiar doors. One was cracked open slightly, and when Lian leaned to get a look of who was in there, she saw Tim, passed out over a desk. Someone should move him; she’ll try and mention that to Cass if she remembered.

Eventually, they came to a door which Lian had never been through before. Cass’s old room.

Cass opened the door, and gestured for Lian to come in. Cass’s room was neat, and kind of sparse, save for the pair of pointe shoes tossed carelessly under the desk. Lian smiled privately to herself at that. Cass, as much as she liked to pretend she wasn't, was just as messy as everyone else.

Cass sat on the bed, and patted the space next to her. Lian did as she was told, and sat cross-legged next to Cass.

“Why are you afraid?” Cass asked, facing her, and staring her right in the eye. Ah, good old Cassandra Cain-Wayne intensity, how she’d missed it.

Lian blinked. Okay, okay. She couldn’t _lie_ , because Cass would know. But… maybe she could… not tell the truth? Or all of it?

“I’ve just been feeling a little… unwelcome.” Lian said. It wasn’t exactly a lie – she did feel a little unwelcome. Thinking that the family you’d kind of accidentally been adopted into might be part of, or _in control of_ , the mafia, didn’t exactly make you feel right at home.

Cass frowned. “You’re always welcome. You’re part of the family.”

And that… well. Lian knew that. She knew that she was considered as such. But it still felt insane to hear someone say that. And she felt a sudden rush of warmth and affection for Cass.

“I-I know. But I…” she suddenly felt her mouth moving before she could stop it, and then she was saying “- I think I’m gay.”

…Wait. What? No, no, she didn’t think she was gay. She didn’t think she was bi or queer or a lesbian or anything. She was straight. She was _straight_. Why did she _say_ that? And why was she _bothered_ by it?

Cass blinked, looking surprised for less than a second, before shifting back into a kind smile. “Okay. Thank you for trusting me.”

Lian bit down on her lip. Okay. This was going to cause some problems later down the road, but it worked. It was just a cover story. She didn’t actually think she was gay. Boys – boys were _great_. Not that girls weren’t, but – why was she thinking about this!? This was the opposite of what she should be worrying about!

“Lian. We do not mind.” Cass said slowly, clearly picking her words carefully. “Dick… is engaged to a man. Tim has feelings for a boy. I like girls.” Cass shrugged, looking out the window. “Jason is part of the… the community. Damian does not want to talk about it. Most of us are not straight.” Cass was frowning now. “Words are difficult. But we are family, more than just adoption papers. And you are part of the family.”

Lian felt like crying.

Here Cass was, giving her warmth and acceptance and love, telling her she was part of her family, speaking a lot when words were hard for her. And Lian wasn’t even gay. She felt like she was being welcomed into a world where she wasn’t meant to be. And she knew all those things – she knew Dick’s fiancé was that funny guy called Wally who came over for dinner sometimes, she knew Tim was pining for someone, she knew that Jason had had boyfriends before, she knew that it was all okay. And she truly believed that.

So why was it so _scary_ for her to be presented with it all like she belonged with them?

Luckily, Cass didn’t ask any questions when Lian tackled her into a hug.

“Can… can you not tell anyone?” Lian asked against the soft fabric of Cass’s shirt. Cass simply ran her hand down Lian’s back, and patted it twice. ‘ _Okay’_.

Lian didn’t cry. She wasn’t much of a crier – but she felt like it. She felt like she was lying to Cass, which was the intention in the first place, but it felt worse. Lying about… about _this_.

After talking for… who knows how long, Lian excused herself from Cass’s room, and went to the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror, and wondered when the hell her life spiralled so dramatically.

God, couldn’t she just go back to a few days ago? When the biggest worry in her life was how her teacher was gonna react to her pathetic attempts at algebra? Or how to tell people to start calling her ‘Lia’ instead of Lian, because she was afraid of being teased for sounding too Asian? Well, that last one was apparently a big thing, at least to her dad. He had hugged her very tightly and she heard him talk to Jason on the phone that night, sounding incredibly sad. And she’d felt guilty.

No, her life had always been a tad stressful. But all of that seemed like millions of years ago.

She splashed some water into her face, and sighed. She wanted to talk to Damian anyway, and the day was hardly getting longer.

This time, when she stopped outside Damian’s door, she actually walked in, instead of just hovering. Damian was bent over his desk, paper scrunched up in balls around him, a few had landed on the floor.

Ah, artblock, maybe? A common enemy they shared.

Trying her best to be sneaky – she was gonna do it _one_ day, Damian, just you wait – she sidled up behind him, and looked over his shoulder. Oh, he was drawing Robin, and Superboy. The younger one. Didn’t Damian say he wasn’t too interested in superheroes and vigilantes? Maybe he just liked the designs.

“You missed the shading on Superboy’s cape.” She said, draping her arms over the chair. Damian didn’t startle, because _of course_ he didn’t. He just hummed, and filled in a small portion of the sketch.

“Thanks for the note.” He said, outlining a highlight in Robin’s hair. “You’re a little early for dinner.”

Lian shrugged. “Dad has a work thing to do at four, and he dropped me off here. Jason’s been busy all day, so he couldn’t do anything with me.” She explained, pushing herself backwards from Damian’s chair, flopped onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling. He’d probably be mad about her wrinkling his sheets or something, but she didn’t really care. It’d been a long day, _already_ , and she was planning on going out again that night.

“I saw Cass.” She commented. “We talked. Why’s she in the Manor? And Tim, come to think of it. Am I interrupting some kind of family reunion?”

Damian shrugged, reaching across the desk to grab an eraser. “Not exactly. Although, it probably wouldn’t help if I told you that Richard and Thomas should be here by tomorrow.”

Richard… Thomas… oh, Dick! Dick and Duke! Lian laughed, pleasantly surprised at how it didn’t sound strained or forced. She’d been in Damian’s room for a grand total of about five minutes, but she was already feeling calmer.

Then, she had a sudden thought that chilled her to her bones. If she was right about the mafia thing going on, and the Waynes and seemingly a lot of their associates – like her dad, Jesus, that was a scary thought – were all gathering, and she’d been hearing about something big going on… were they planning something? What was some kind of big crime family event that’d need all the family there?

Why was she even thinking of that sort of thing? Was she _trying_ to give herself nightmares?

She was pulled out of her thoughts by someone knocking on the door. But for some reason, Damian looked up, and was immediately out of his seat, and shutting the curtains.

Wait, why was he shutting the curtains? Lian raised an eyebrow at him. For once, Damian looked flustered. Well. His version of flustered, which was slightly dishevelled with a hint of embarrassment in the way he held his shoulders. 

From behind him, a muffled voice said “Dami?”, which caused him to smile like he was in pain. A grimace was probably a better word to describe it.

“I can explain.” He said. Lian pushed herself up onto her elbows, and sat up properly.

“Someone’s at the window, aren’t they?” Lian stated, rather than asked. Damian sighed, and nodded.

“Yes, that’ll be Jon. He’s gotten very into… parkour, lately, and has taken up the habit of visiting us by climbing through the windows.” He explained, only it just sounded a _l_ _ittle_ too rushed.

Something else felt off about that explanation. “Doesn’t Jon live in Metropolis?” she said, suspicion clearly breaking through her voice. Good, she wanted it to. Catch Damian off-guard for once.

“Yes, he does. What of it?” Aha, playing dumb. Two can play at this game, Damian.

“If he lives in Metropolis, then why is he in Gotham?” she asked innocently, tilting her head to the side, emulating those cute puppies she got recommended on Instagram all the time.

Damian was floundering. It wouldn’t be obvious if you didn’t know him well, but Lian could tell. He was thinking, and he was thinking fast.

“He likes to visit.” He said quickly.

“I do like to visit! He’s not lying, Lian!” a muffled voice from behind Damian commented cheerfully.

Damian sighed heavily, and opened the curtains. Lian leaned so she could see past him, and saw a cheerful sixteen-year-old clinging to the large ledge – thank god for gothic architecture – and smiling widely. He hoisted himself up, and sat on the ledge, and waved. “Hi Lian!” he said, voice muffled from the window.

Lian waved back, and tried not to laugh. This… wasn’t the weirdest situation she’d been in recently, but it was still pretty funny.

Damian just looked bored, and vaguely unimpressed as he opened the window to let Jon crawl in, and a cold breeze flooded the room. Jon, clearly having done this before, just leapt through the window, and straightened up. He gave Lian a cheerful smile, and when the _hell_ did he get so tall? Was Lian always this short?

“Hi Lian! You alright?” he asked brightly, sitting down next to her on Damian’s bed and adjusting his glasses. Lian shrugged.

“I’ve been worse.” She said evenly. “How’ve you been?”

“Cold. It was a nightmare to fly over.”

Damian stiffed, and Jon paused. “The problem with convertibles, right? Look very cool, leave you freezing.” He joked, laughing awkwardly.

That caught Lian’s attention. “You like cars too?” she asked, suddenly excited. Lian was her dad’s daughter, after all, and she liked cars and bikes and anything with an engine that could make a decent revving sound.

Jon shot Damian a slightly panicked look, which Damian did not react to. “Uh – kind of? I don’t know much about them, it’s a fairly new interest.” He said, looking awkward.

“You said you had a convertible, right? What kind?” she asked, waiting expectantly. Even if Jon didn’t know much, he’d have to know the _basics_ , right?

“Uh… it’s an old car, French name – Chevrolet?” he said. Lian’s eyes lit up. Chevrolets were _nice_ , and whilst they weren’t the best car in the world, they were a favourite of Lian’s.

“Chevrolet? What year?” she asked, smile widening her face.

Jon blinked. “Uh, can’t remember. Damian bought it for me – it was a Christmas present, I think – do you remember, Dami?”

Damian shrugged. “1957, wasn’t it?”

_A 1957?!_

“Oh my _God.”_ Lian said quietly. “You’re showing me that. That’s a _nice_ car.”

“Isn’t this touching?” Damian drawled, walking back over to his desk. “Jon, come here, I need to use you as a reference.” He said, beckoning with his hand. Jon willingly stood up, and walked over, effectively changing the topic very quickly.

“Hey – you’re drawing u- Superboy and Robin!” he commented gleefully, sounding _far_ too enthusiastic. Maybe Jon was a superhero nerd? Lian could hardly judge – she was a Wonder Woman stan. She once caught an interview of Wonder Woman _and_ Wonder Girl on TV, _live_ , and she’d gotten unreasonably excited to the point where Roy wasn’t allowed to speak until the interview was over, because he might speak over them and she'd miss what they were saying.

A little disappointed the conversation had shifted from cars, Lian made a move to stand up and close the window. It was _still_ as cold as that morning, if not colder – come on Gotham, you’re better than this, she thought to herself.

She shut the window with a nice click, and turned back to see Jon leaning over Damian’s shoulder, and he was…

His feet were slightly off the ground. Like he was floating. What? Was he doing something where he was hanging onto Damian’s chair and suspending himself in the air?

There was a sudden knock at the door, and both Jon and Lian jumped, whilst Damian just shoved Jon off of his chair, and opened the door to see Alfred.

“Master Damian, Miss Lian, and… Master Jon.” He said, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Jon smiled guiltily. “Dinner is nearly ready; it’d be preferable for you to come and sit down. I’m assuming that Master Jon will be joining us?”

Damian nodded. “Yes, if that’s not too much trouble. Thank you, Alfred, we’ll be down soon.”

“Um, Alfred?” Lian said quickly. Then she suddenly felt embarrassed as she felt all the attention on her. “Are Jason and dad here?”

Alfred gave her a kind smile, and said “Not yet, although I have received word that they are on their way.” He said, before turning away.

When Lian, Jon, and Damian eventually went downstairs, Lian was pleased to see her dad pulling off his jacket, and Jason taking off his boots, in the foyer. When they noticed Lian, Jon, and Damian standing there, Jason smiled widely. “Hey Lian, Jon – oh! And my _favourite_ brother!”

Damian sneered. “Todd, if you –” he began, but he was quickly cut off by Jason grabbing his arm, tugging him forward, and getting him into a headlock.

“ _Todd!_ I swear to God –” Damian snapped, but he shrieked like he was eight instead of eighteen when Jason ground his fist into his hair.

Jon burst out laughing, as Damian desperately tried to escape Jason’s brotherly affection, and Lian couldn’t help but snort. Roy watched in amusement as he took his own shoes off.

Damian, realising Jason only had socks protecting his vulnerable feet, raised his foot and stomped, before raising his hand to grasp at Jason’s hair, and tugging _hard_.

Jason yelled, and Damian escaped, ducking under his arms, swearing heavily in what Lian knew was Arabic, and running into one of the living rooms, a cackling Jon hot on his heels.

Lian, giggling, followed as she heard her dad’s muffled laughter from behind her.

Dinner at Wayne Manor could go in three directions. One, which was just eating in someone’s room with them, or in the media room. Often very casual, and was the norm for when there were only one to two people visiting. Two, a few people gathered around a small dining table or around the _g_ _iant_ kitchen island. Expected to be normal, and not that chaotic, but of course that never happened. And three, everyone in the Manor sat at the super large dining table, and due to the sheer volume of people at one table, the most chaotic meals Lian had ever witnessed in her life.

That night was an option three sort of night.

There were nine of them all gathered around the largest dining table in the Manor, Bruce, Alfred, Jason, Roy, Lian, Jon, Damian, Cass, and Tim. And the table was only half full.

Tim looked exhausted, and didn’t even fight when Jason tried to noogie him as well. He looked ready to pass out, but Lian noticed that Cass, who was sat next to him, kept pinching him when he looked particularly close to dropping off.

Lian was sat in between Damian, and her dad. The food was amazing, because Alfred was a god of cooking, but it only took ten minutes for the chaos to erupt. Lian wasn’t even entirely sure how it started, but somehow Jason had ended up yelling about how a Mr Darcy character from one of his favourite books was just “AN INNOCENT, AWKWARD, AGORAPHOBIC LOBSTER TRYING HIS _BEST_ –” over the table at Damian, who was arguing against that, for some reason. Lian was just watching in baffled amusement, alongside her dad.

Cass was stood on the table, dodging between plates of food and cups with a ballerina’s grace, switching between Jason and Damian, and just repeatedly saying the words “No,” and “ _Shush!_ ” in a desperate attempt to get them to calm down, and due to her absence in keeping Tim awake, he was passed out cold. Bruce looked disappointed in his children, Alfred simply looked impassive, and Jon was awkwardly smiling as Damian yelled at his older brother.

Yeah, dinners at the Waynes’ was always entertaining, to say the least.

“Christ, to think this isn’t even with all of them here.” Roy said to her quietly, classic mischievous smile on his face as he watched Cass take Jason by the sides of the face and whisper a very long and drawn out ‘ _Shh!_ ’

“Damian said Dick and his fiancé were coming to stay as well. Wonder what the occasion is?” Lian said, wondering privately if she could get some more information out of her dad. She knew it was bad, and she should really just try to relax and have fun, but it was in the back of her mind _all the time_ , and –

“Jesus, you think this lot is chaotic, wait till you see Dick and Wally with no expectations to be the responsible ones. It’s incredible, and terrifying.” She was pulled out of her thoughts by her dad’s laughter. “God, I remember one time when we were on a mission for Teen T–” he suddenly cut himself, off and looked uncomfortable.

“Teen T? Mission?” Lian asked, now suspicious. Oh, alright, she was getting somewhere. And with the demonic screeching going on around them, no one could really hear what they were saying to each other.

Roy blinked, and smiled widely. “Yep, Teen T. It was a… well, it was a bit of a fan club. I’m not going to lie.”

Lian raised an eyebrow at that. “You? In a fan club? For what? With Wally and Dick? How _old_ were you, like six?”

“Teen!” He added cheerfully, ignoring her other questions. “I’m telling you about some of my cringiest moments right now, the least you can do is take me seriously.”

“Okay, okay, my bad. Was this when you still went by ‘Speedy’ or…?” she said, purposefully bringing up her dad’s old nickname. She wasn’t entirely sure why he detested it so much, but it was pretty funny.

“Low blow, Princess, low blow.” He mutters, eerily similar to the way Jason did. Maybe they picked it up from one another?

Then Roy got hit in the face by a stray vegetable flying vegetable, and then the conversation was over.

Lian was tired by the time she was washing the mash potato out of her hair. (The majority of them were fully grown adults, how the _hell_ did a food fight break out?) But she was still going out that night, and whilst she didn’t have an _exact_ plan, she had an idea of what she was going to do. And an idea was better than nothing.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, poor, poor Lian. This chapter kinda came out angstier than I was intending, but Lian is thirteen, and as we all know, being the ages of 11-14 is literally the hardest thing in the world, and you feel sad all the damn time. Also, she's pretty sure her family is a bunch of potentially murderous criminals, so she has every right to be angsty. This also turned out longer than I anticipated?? Just a casual 4k words aha
> 
> Next chapter: DICKIEBIRD'S HOME


	6. Sets Off An Unsuspecting Herd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooooo we are back baby!
> 
> I can't believe i'm nearly at 20k?? I started writing this like a week or two ago?? Guess I really just vibe with Lian
> 
> Featuring: Lian being a hero, Roy being unobservant (like father like daughter), and Dick's Lucky Charms addiction. if you have read any one of my other fics - this is a prevalent thing. 
> 
> Chapter title is from "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" by... three guesses who. That's right, it's The Offspring

Lian knew that if she wanted to do this, she needed to do it properly.

Not that there really was a _right_ way to do this, because Lian was pretty sure she was the first person to be in this exact situation.

She was going to follow her dad and Jason, and she was going to get answers. Out of them, from evidence, from someone else – she didn’t know. But she was getting desperate. She was afraid and upset and anxious, and she was currently trying to sneak a knife into her hoodie.

Lian was making tea, whilst her dad dozed on the couch, and Jason was reading something next to him as the radio played late night news softly in the background. She had her black hoodie that zipped up really high – part of her ‘sneaking out’ gear – on over a dark shirt and jeans, and to add to the illusion that she was just going to back to her room to sleep, she had her pyjama pants over her jeans, and her hair out of its usual braid and loose around her shoulders.

She wasn’t stupid. She knew Gotham was dangerous as hell, and she knew that tailing criminals was dangerous as hell, and she knew that jumping across rooftops was dangerous as hell. She was smart enough to realise she was _being_ stupid. But she knew that she wasn’t going to do the smart thing either.

Okay, she was a little stupid, because she _knew_ the risks, and she was doing it anyway.

She opened the cutlery draw to grab a spoon to stir her tea, and, as silently as possible and as slowly as she dared, she took a long knife out, and slid it into her hoodie pocket. She hoped she wouldn’t need to use it. It wasn’t the only weapon she was planning on bringing, but it was a _knife_ and it was _sharp_ and that small part of her that was still a little kid was freaking the hell out.

Lian stirred her tea as she walked to her room. Jason looked up from his book for a moment, and she froze. Did he know? Was the knife sticking out of her pocket?

“Going to bed?” he asked softly. Lian nodded, feeling a lump in her throat. Even though he’d technically been lying to her for… whoever knows how long, Lian still felt guilty doing the same. Especially when he gave her a kind smile, and said “Goodnight then, sleep well.”

Lian nodded again, and ducked inside her room, hands shaking slightly. Okay, no time to waste.

She knew her dad had a habit of checking if she was okay whilst she slept. He didn’t normally do it anymore – unless they were somewhere which wasn’t their apartment in Star City. So, she needed something to fool him.

It was a _massive_ risk, but Lian was too stubborn to not do it at this point. And maybe she’d watched a few too many early 2000’s teen movies.

She took her pillow, and tugged the pillowcase off. She tugged off her pyjama pants, stopping for a moment to rearrange her jeans, balled the pyjama pants up, and shoved them in the pillow case. She arranged it all on her actual pillow, and regarded it. Did it look like her head? She’d have to hope so.

Quickly locking and zipping up her empty suitcase, she pushed back her blanket, and placed her suitcase under her attempt at a false head. Pulling the blankets back over, it looked pretty convincing. Only issue was that Lian’s suitcase was kinda wide, and Lian herself was quite small and slight. Still – it’d have to do.

The good thing about staying in Jason’s spare room was that he kept a few odds and ends in the cupboard at the side, and that meant Lian had a baseball bat readily available to her. She was pretty sure it was stolen from one of his brothers, since she’d never seen him play. They kept doing stuff like that, stealing from each other and swapping items. It almost made Lian want siblings.

Okay, double check everything. False body in the bed? Check. Movable night-time gear on? Check. Knife in hoodie pocket and baseball bat resting against her shoulders? Check. Jason and Roy unconscious?

Lian cracked open her door, and peered through it. Jason had fallen asleep, just like she’d hoped for. Her dad had somehow migrated in his sleep to sprawl on top of Jason, his head resting on his chest. The arm that’d been holding Jason’s book was now resting on her dad’s back protectively. It was… shockingly domestic.

Dad and might-as-well-be-dad unconscious? Check.

They’d wake up soon, Lian saw that Jason’s phone was right next to them, resting on the coffee table, and she knew it had an alarm set for ten o’clock. It was twenty minutes to, so she didn’t have long.

She shut her door as quietly as possible, and tiptoed past the two of them, and dodged into Jason’s room. Before she gave herself a chance to stop and think about what she was doing – and most likely talk herself out of it – Lian popped open the window, slowly lowered herself onto the fire escape, closed the window as best she could from outside, and clambered up the fire escape, silently cursing her idea of bringing the baseball bat. It was larger than she’d expected, and a bit cumbersome. And not tying her hair up before, it was hanging in her face, and she kept having to push it back. She’ll have to remember that, for next time. If there was a next time, that is.

Once on the roof, she didn’t exactly have much to do, so she crouched behind the air conditioning vent, and pulled her hood up, and tugged up her hoodie’s zipper so it covered her mouth and nose. All she had to do now, was wait.

It took maybe thirty or so minutes, and Lian was ready to give up and go back inside, before there was the tell-tale metallic creak of the fire escape being used, and then there were footsteps. Lian was facing away from them, and behind the air conditioning, so she couldn’t see anything, but she could hear them loud and clear. She’d been braiding her hair, and dropped the end of her long braid in shock when the first voice began speaking.

“Alright, Lian okay?” a distorted voice said, and that made Lian tense up. Someone she didn’t recognise knew her, and _her name_.

Wait, wait, wait. Was that Jason? Did Jason have some kind of voice filter-y thing on?

“Yeah – she was asleep. Just poked my head in, and she was out.” That was her dad. “Any idea where either of us are going? Could check out that warehouse downtown.”

“Mm. It did look pretty suspicious. Oh, by the way, did you get any information on those parts? Did Red get back to you?”

“ _Kinda_? The mechanism looked familiar, downright boring if I’m honest. The metal is the weird thing, though. Red got a sample, but hasn’t had time for tests yet. Kept passing out.”

“He needs to sleep for once, Jesus. Wasn’t it just steel?”

“Nope. Well – yes. I thought it was. It’s like… pretending to be steel?”

“Weird. Let’s go check it out.”

“On it. Race you?” There were sudden footsteps, and what sounded like her dad jumping across a rooftop and the quiet thump of his landing.  
  


“No, we are not racing – oh my _god,_ you’re as bad as Nightwing.” Jason’s distorted laugh came through, and then there was the sound of running, and there was Lian’s chance.

She straightened up, and bit down on her lip to keep a pained groan down as her legs cracked.

She stretched her legs out as she scanned the skyline of Gotham, looking for her dad and Jason. They had to be somewhere – _there_. Jumping across buildings like it was absolutely nothing. She could only see their silhouettes, but she had to trust it was them.

Lian grabbed the baseball bat, double checked the knife, and ran towards the edge. She walked back, braced herself, and took off in a run, jumped, and landed heavily on the next rooftop, the wood of the baseball bat making a _thunk_ against concrete. She didn’t need to fall into a roll, however, so that was an improvement. Dick would be proud.

She quickly looked around. There, they were there, maybe three or four rooftops away.

Lian was ready to find a way to get across the building, before there was a sudden sound of glass breaking. Lian tensed, and walked to the edge of the building, and looked down into the alleyway below.

It was a guy, swaying slightly. Lian couldn’t really see much, but she didn’t exactly have the time to –

“Please leave me alone!” A small voice cried, and then Lian knew she couldn’t ignore it. Her dad and Jason would have to wait. There was a kid who sounded like they were in trouble.

Lian slung her baseball bat over her shoulder, and went to the fire escape on the side of the building, and clambered down as slowly as she dared, in order to keep silent. As she got closer, she saw the guy was older, and _definitely_ swaying, holding a broken bottle, and Jesus _fuck_ he stank of alcohol.

He was seemingly looking for something, as he was swinging his head around, saying “Where are you?” under his breath, over and over again.

“Please leave me alone.” The voice said again, sounding thick with tears. Lian nearly jumped out of her skin when she realised that the voice was right below her. She peered through the half-darkness, and saw a small kid crouched behind the dumpster below her, curled into a small ball.

Lian knew she was like her dad in a lot of ways, and one way was that she’s always been a sucker for a kid who needs help.

Another thing they have in common is they both have excellent aim, no matter the projectile.

She reached into her hoodie pocket, and debated between the knife and baseball bat. If she threw either of those, she might not get it back. But if she didn’t throw anything –

Wait. She nudged her foot along the fire escape as the kid muffled their sobs, and the older guy swayed closer and closer. Come on, there had to be _something_ around here she could toss!

And there was. Her foot nudged against something, an old can by the sounds of it, and on instinct, she leaned down, grabbed it, and locked her eyes on her target. Ready, aim, fire.

She tossed the can, and it hit the guy on the head with the accuracy her dad had taught her for years. The guy froze, and looked up at her position hidden in the shadows.

“Who’s it?” the guy slurs, and Lian had to decide if she’s going to make up a name right then and there and be mocked privately by _actual_ vigilantes for years after this one experience, if anyone found out.

Better safe than sorry.

“No one you know.” She responded sharply. “Get away from the kid, I’m not afraid to throw something heavier.” She tried making her voice a little deeper, sound a little older, so it wouldn’t be obvious she was a thirteen-year-old kid caught up in a lot of shit she shouldn’t know about. It didn’t really work.

“Little shit stole my property, just getting it back.” He swore, fumbling towards the dumpster. The kid let out a panicked whine, and Lian _had_ to act.

She kicked down the foldable ladder at the bottom of the fire escape, and crawled down it in record speed. She landed on the dumpster lid, which wasn’t pleasant, but she had other problems to deal with. She slung the baseball bat off her shoulders, and wrapped her other hand around it. God, she should’ve brought a slingshot or something. She was _way_ better from a distance than up close and personal.

Still though. She certainly wasn’t _bad_.

Lian grit her teeth, chose her target, and swung. The baseball bat met the guy’s shoulder with a dull thump, and Lian was proud of herself for not accidentally breaking anything on the guy. She wasn’t that strong, but the bat was heavy and she had a lot of momentum behind it.

_Unfortunately_ , the guy didn’t get the memo, and he stumbled back drunkenly, and hit his head on the brick wall behind him. Lian cringed at the sound as he slid to the floor.

Lian was breathing heavy. Okay. Okay. She just accidentally knocked a guy out whilst protecting a little kid. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. This was fine. This was fine. This was _fine_.

“…miss?” a small voice from behind the dumpster asked, and this time Lian did yelp.

“Oh _god_ – sorry kid, you just spooked me. Are you okay? He didn’t hit you or try to grab you or anything?” she asked, crouching down to get a better look, resting the bat against her shoulder. The kid looked up at her, and nodded, and slowly started to squeeze themselves out from behind the dumpster. Lian jumped off, and waited for the kid to get out.

“So, you stole from this guy?” Lian asked, nodding at the still unconscious man on the ground. The kid, a little boy, maybe seven or so, nodded.

“What was it? Cigarettes or something?” She asked, bending her knees slightly to look him in the eye. He shook his head, and pulled out a watch from his jean pocket. It wasn’t a particularly nice watch, not like the ones Lian regularly saw Bruce and her grandad wearing. It just kind of looked old. And shitty.

“Should probably give that back, huh?” she said, holding her hand out for it. He looked reluctant, but the kid handed it over.

“Are you gonna wake him up again? He chased me down here.” The kid said, voice shaky. Lian shook her head, and walked towards the unconscious guy. She placed the watch next to him, just out of sight so some wannabe mugger couldn’t take it from him. Lian nearly jumped out of her skin when the kid suddenly asked “You’re a bat, aren’t you?”

Lian turned to face him, glad that she’d pulled her hoodie up to cover the majority of her face, because she knew she’d look confused as hell. Wait. Not a bat. A _Bat_.

“Are you just saying that because I got a baseball bat?” she joked, taking it away from her shoulder again. The kid shook his head, and pointed at her chest. She frowned, and looked down, and nearly swore. She’d forgotten about the small bat symbol patch sewn in right above her heart.

“Uh… not on purpose.” She corrected. “So, kiddo, where you live? I’ll take you back home. It’s getting real late for kids your age.”

Taking the kid home was fairly easy. He only lived a block away, and actually knew his own address. His mother was glad to see him, and thanked Lian profusely. The woman also asked for a name, which Lian panicked and said she didn’t have one yet. Which was kind of a lie, she didn’t have a name to go by for this kind of thing, but she was hardly in the market for one.

As she walked back to the alleyway, to try and regain her sense of direction, she felt a lot of things. Disappointment, she’d definitely lost her dad and Jason for the night, but also… satisfaction? Relief? She felt like she’d done something good, and _right_. It was a bit of a weird feeling to have, but she held onto it as she clambered up the fire escape of some random building, jumped across to Jason’s building, and waited on the rooftop. She was hardly in the mood to try and sleep after all of that, so instead, she leant against the air conditioning, and looked up. It was a nice night, for Gotham. Not many clouds in the sky, and the occasional star poked through all the black and blue. It was still stupidly cold, but she felt like she could stay outside and watch the stars forever.

It suddenly hit Lian that she couldn’t. She couldn’t – because she didn’t have many days in Gotham left. Tomorrow would be her fourth. Thursday, and they were only there until the next Monday.

Lian needed to finish her… investigation, of sorts, or confront her dad. Something needed to be done. About… everything.

Lian was on a timer, and she could hear the seconds ticking away with every thump of her too-loud heart.

…maybe she should try and get some sleep after all.

* * *

Lian woke up to a cheerful voice that was _entirely_ too loud for… She reached over and grabbed her phone. Ten twenty-six in the morning – _ten twenty-six in the morning_?! Damn, she must’ve been exhausted after last night. She did a quick mental checklist before she dared to move. Knife back in the drawer and wiped off just in case Jason looked for fingerprints – and that was _definitely_ paranoia, but you could never be too careful – check. Baseball bat back in the closet and also cleaned off? Check. Fake body dismantled and put away? Check. Lian in pyjamas to sell the idea that she’d been asleep all night? Check.

She rolled out of bed, yawning, brushing her bangs out of her face. She should probably get a haircut soon. Her hair was still in its messy braid from last night, so she took out the hair band and combed it loose with her fingers as she opened her bedroom door. Her dad was at the front door, talking enthusiastically to someone, and Jason was pulling that box of Lucky Charms cereal out of the cupboard.

Wait. Cheerful loud voice, friendly with her dad, Lucky Charms…

“Uncle Dick?” she asked out loud. Roy jumped, Jason yelped, and Dick laughed loudly from the hallway at their reactions.

He poked his head in, and was grinning like usual. “Hey Lian – what’s going on, girl?” he asked cheerfully. Lian tried to say something in response, but a yawn gripped her before she could.

Dick laughed again. “Guess that answers my question!”

Jason tapped on Roy’s shoulder twice, and Roy moved out of the way automatically. He shoved the box of Lucky Charms into Dick’s arms, and said “Here – Wally was right to ban you from them. You’re like a damn addict.”

Dick scoffed as he got a proper grip on the Lucky Charms. “I am _not_ , no offence, Roy.” Dick added. Roy shrugged.

“None taken – in fact, I agree with Jason. You do eat a concerning amount of that stuff.” Her dad commented. Dick made an offended sound.

“I am offended, I am disgusted, I dedicate my life to –” he began, but he was quickly cut off.

“Our lord and saviour, Jesus Christ, and this is the thanks I get!?” Roy and Lian chorused. Jason blinked at the two of them, and whispered something to Dick, who only nodded in response. Jason may read ridiculously old books for fun all the time, but at least Lian was _cultured_. What kind of person doesn’t get Vine references?!

Well. Aside from Jason, apparently.

“Well, speaking of Wally, he’s not going to be in Gotham till tomorrow. He’s got… work stuff to catch up on.” He said, pointedly not looking at Lian. Damn, everyone in this family was _terrible_ at hiding things.

Christ, was Dick’s fiancé wrapped up in all of this as well? Lian didn’t want to be a flower girl at the wedding of two criminals. No matter _how_ nice her dress was.

“Work stuff? He’s normally pretty fast at that. What’s keeping him in Blüdhaven?” Roy asked evenly, raising an eyebrow.

“Something about his lab having an infestation.” Dick replied shortly. “I’ll tell you about it later – anyway, any urgent information I should be caught up on?”

“Bats have been roosting in the building.” Jason said. Lian blinked at him. No…? There were no bats – at least, nowhere near Jason’s apartment. And how was that urgent?

“They should find a cave, or something.” Dick joked, but Lian noticed an undercurrent of sudden tension. “Well, I’m off to the Manor. I’ll see you soon. Bye Lian!” he called.

Lian waved back, and watched as Dick left. Something felt off. Well, everything felt off lately, but that _specifically_ felt off.

“You slept in late.” Jason commented, shutting the door. “And you went to bed pretty early. You’re not getting sick, are you?”

Lian shrugged, and stretched to try and sell the illusion. “I doubt it, I haven’t been out to _get_ sick.” She lied. “I think I’m just tired from doing stuff non-stop, you know?”

Roy rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “You’re only thirteen, and you’re already such a teenager.”

She shrugged again. “I don’t know – think I’ll just have a day in. If that’s alright?” she asked, trying to not look at the coffee table. If she got some time alone, she could do some more snooping. Maybe she’d even have the guts to look through those case files.

“We’re going out today – for work – so are you sure? We can take you to the Manor –” Roy offered, but Lian shook her head. Even though she wanted to punch the air and scream ‘yessssss!!!’

“No, no. I’m fine here.” She said, hopefully sounding as chill as she was attempting.

She seemingly convinced her dad and Jason, because they nodded, and made sure she would look through the peephole, and have the baseball bat (that she _clearly_ didn’t know _anything_ about, wow Jason, why do you have that?) ready if it was someone suspicious.

The second Roy had planted a kiss on her forehead, despite all her protesting, and Jason had ushered him out the door, with their footsteps receding, Lian was pushing away the coffee table, lifting the rug, and pulling back the floor.

She had some clues to stitch together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I'm still a little torn about how Lian will react when she figures it out. But now that she's gotten a taste of being a hero, she might understand.
> 
> Next chapter: Lian visits the Manor once again. Just not in the way you'd think


	7. As You Get Back Into Line,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING, OH GOD, EVERYONE STAY CALM, EVERYONE STAY FUCKING CALM
> 
> (friend: please tell me this chapter isn't going to be a cliff-hanger  
> me: oh no it won't  
> me, two hours later: okay so about that)
> 
> Featuring: Lian comes to terms with her own queerness, why would you do this, that's so dangerous, and, oh. OH. OOOOOOOH SHIT. 
> 
> (chapter title is from "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" by The Offspring)
> 
> I was literally so excited to write this chapter y'all... i'm buzzing. it could just be the ADHD, but i'm very excited.

Lian frowned at the case file. It… was complete and utter nonsense. She couldn’t understand _anything_ , because it was all written in some godawful mix of what _looked_ like a bunch of different languages, shorthand, and didn’t even use the Latin alphabet all the time, judging by the Arabic letters scrawled in the corners. The pictures and notes all stuck in were confusing and unclear and not clearly labelled at all – how the _hell_ did Jason keep up with all of this?! She felt like her head was spinning in the attempt to translate the few Vietnamese words she could pick out from the mess of it all.

She sighed, and put the case file down. The other three in there were the same – if not worse. Completely unintelligible. She’d double checked the rubber bullet stash, and quite a few were missing. She’d need to check next time Jason got a delivery or came back from the store… or was that going too far?

Honestly, this entire situation was putting Lian into a moral place where she’d rather not be.

Lian was still in pyjamas – she’d had a long night, and she wasn’t planning on going out in the daylight, don’t judge – and had an actual hoodie around her shoulders. She was pretty sure it was one of Tim’s that Damian stole, and that she stole from him. Ah, the circle of life.

Okay. Case files, complete bust. Rubber bullet count, fairly similar to the last time Lian had checked. So, Jason wasn’t running out anytime soon. Was that… reassuring? Or did that mean he was using… uh, _non_ -rubber bullets?

Yeah, don’t think about that. That’s a question for later. And a potential panic attack.

Lian slid the floorboard back, and pulled back the rug. Nothing new – no updates other than pure confusion. And she was running out of time. Maybe… maybe a second round of snooping was in order. But did she even really have _time_ for that? She could just give up this whole investigation and go to the police, or straight up call her dad or Jason and demand answers.

Lian kicked at the rug moodily. This whole thing was so goddamn weird –

There was a sudden knock on the door, which made Lian yelp. She jumped up from the floor, grabbed the baseball bat, and looked through the peephole. She saw wild, curly blonde hair, a splash of purple, and a wide smile. Ah, Steph!

Lian unlocked the door, and pulled it open, keeping the baseball bat around her shoulders. “Hiya Steph!”

Steph blinked at her, smile temporarily gone. Lian realised she must’ve looked a little weird, wearing a hoodie and pyjamas and with a baseball bat resting across her shoulders. But regardless, Steph smiled at her widely.

“Hey Lian – didn’t know you were visiting!” she said – but it was a little forced. Steph _did_ know she was visiting, and she was lying. _Great_ , that made the list of people who might be part of the mafia… roughly around ten or so. Excellent.

“I’ve been here for four days already.” Lian commented, stepping back to let Steph in. “Are you looking for Jay? Or dad?”

Steph shrugged, looking around the apartment. “I was looking for Jaybird – sorry, _Jason_. I forgot I don’t have Jaybird privileges.” She joked.

Why did that sound familiar?

Wait. Wait – wait. The first night Lian was there, Jason was talking to some random woman at like three am in the morning, and he’d mentioned how she didn’t have ‘Jaybird privileges.’ That was _Steph_.

“…right. You can wait here for him to come back, if you want. He shouldn’t be long. Hey, Steph – have you ever been roof jumping?” she asked. Steph tensed, and suddenly looked her straight in the eyes, losing all the casual relaxation that she normally had.

“Like… Parkour?” she guessed non-committedly, settling down on the couch as Lian shut the door. “Maybe like once or twice. Why? You interested in it or something?”

Lian shrugged, thinking back to the last few nights. “Something like that. I was on the roof last night, to try and sketch the skyline?” she lied. If she managed to sound convincing, then… “And I saw someone with long hair jumping around. I thought it was you.” She commented.

Steph suddenly looked fearful for a moment. _Gotcha_. “Oh. You don’t say?”

Lian nodded. “Yep. I saw blonde hair and everything – it probably wasn’t you, but I thought I’d tell you anyways.”

“Could’ve been Batgirl. I hear she’s blonde, plus, if they were wearing a cape, it’ll definitely be one of those bats.” Steph said, near babbling. How had Lian made her this anxious _already_?

_But,_ there was an opening there. And Lian was nothing, if not optimistic.

“I never said they had a cape.” Lian commented, purposefully putting suspicion in her voice. And it worked like a charm. Steph’s eyes widened, and she tensed subtly.

“Huh… really?” Steph said, in a pathetic attempt to be calm and casual. “Oh, one second, I think someone just texted me.” She lied, reaching into her back pocket. She held the phone up to her ear, fiddled _with_ said ear for a second, before speaking, and mouthing ‘they wanted me to call’.

“Hey. I’m at Jason’s place.” She said in an obviously practiced calm tone. “I was looking for him. About the – yeah, about that. Lian’s here.” She shot Lian an apologetic look, and mouthed ‘Cass’. “No, you – Cass I – _Cassandra_ , don’t – did you just _mute_ me?!” she said, finally displaying an emotion that wasn’t incredibly forced. Steph, apparently, was a bad actress.

She hit her phone screen with her thumb, even though Lian could _see_ that she wasn’t calling anyone. “Right… so Cass is coming to pick me up. Guess I gotta run.” She said, smiling apologetically. “Sorry, I know it’s really rude, but –”

Lian shrugged. “I get it. Cass is pretty insistent. I’ll see you ‘round?”

Steph nodded, and then she was out the door, muttering something about ‘damn bats.’

What the _hell_ was everyone’s obsession with bats lately!?

* * *

Apparently, in the two or three days since Lian _last_ snooped through everything, Jason hadn’t gotten any worse at hiding things. Lian wasn’t surprised, but she was disappointed nonetheless. She felt like she’d been dumped in the middle of a labyrinth, spun around several times, and then told to find her way out whilst walking on her hands.

She was just so _confused_ , everything felt… it was hard to explain. It felt like she was missing something obvious, something right in front of her face, like she just didn’t have one detail that would make everything click into place. But whatever that detail was, Lian had no clue.

And it was really _fucking_ frustrating.

She was laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling like the world was against her. She knew it wasn’t, but _teenage angst_ , you know? She was stressed and it was making her upset. Logically, she knew the best solution to this was to remove the source of stress, or take a break if it was unavoidable. But she could hardly do _either_ of those things with the whole ‘my entire group of people I consider family probably has the mafia twisted around their collective little finger’ problem. But… there was another thing that’d been stressing her out slightly.

Well. _Slightly_. Slightly in comparison.

Yesterday, she’d told Cass that she thought she might be gay. And that’d been a lie. But… was it? Really?

Lian wasn’t… sure. Because, well, how did you _know_ about these things? Was it meant to just click? Was she meant to have a whole revelation? Some sort of epiphany with a disembodied lightbulb floating above her head?

Frowning, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, and pulled up Google. She quickly typed in ‘ _am I gay quiz’_ , and selected the third result, which despite being a Buzzfeed quiz, looked pretty promising.

It turned out not to be, though, as most of the questions were about her liking or disliking certain songs. Which… whilst her favourite Britney Spears song was, indeed, ‘Toxic’, she hardly saw how that had anything to do with if she liked girls or not.

She scrolled a little, and found a few articles. But, those too, kind of didn’t help. They were all about helping someone who just figured it out, and Lian herself didn’t even know yet. She sighed, and closed the tab. If she was going to put an end to this source of stress, she’d need to figure it out. Okay, romantic attraction was wanting to be in a romantic relationship with someone. Right? And if she pictured herself in a romantic relationship with a guy… it didn’t seem that appealing. But if she thought of it with a _girl_ …

A warm feeling bloomed in her chest, and she felt herself smile a little. Yeah – that seemed better. A _lot_ better.

Oh god. She was gay. Her, Lian Harper, liked girls.

And… as that thought settled in, the shock wore off. It just kind of made sense. Yeah. _Yeah_. She liked girls. That sounded right. Felt right too. Okay. Yeah. She was gay. Okay.

Right. She liked girls. That was out of the way. She felt a little better for it, she definitely knew that. That was one problem out of the way. Now, she had to plan how to deal with her second one.

* * *

Her dad and Jason had barely crept out the window themselves when Lian dared to follow, that night. She was getting cocky, and that was a problem, but she _had_ to know. She just – she might’ve tried to confront them on the roof if she didn’t know that was a _stupid_ idea.

She clambered up, poked her head over the roof – she had the baseball bat in one hand, and no knives this time – and immediately had to duck back down because holy _fuck_ there were Arsenal and Red Hood. _Again_.

How the hell did they get onto the roof without Lian hearing them!? And where were her dad and Jason!? And –

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. They… they couldn’t – no. No. No? No. _No._ That wouldn’t even make sense. It was ridiculous. Lian shook her head, and tried to keep an eye on the two of them. She felt a little dizzy with shock, and forgot to pay attention to what they were saying.

…Arsenal had been spotted with Nightwing before, right? Which meant they knew each other. Her dad also knew Nightwing, she was sure. So… if she potentially followed Arsenal, he might lead her to her dad and Jason?

It was – well, it was a stretch. But the two silhouettes were already taking off and splitting up before she even had the time to consider if this was a bad idea, and Lian had to follow _one_ of them. So, she picked one, hoped it was Arsenal, and jumped off the roof in his general direction. She couldn’t slow down, she couldn’t get distracted, and _she couldn’t lose whoever she was following_.

Whoever this person was, Red Hood or Arsenal, Lian was thankful they weren’t the fastest person in Gotham. She could keep up. But only just, and her stamina was wearing thin. There were only so many buildings you could leap across in one night, and Lian’s count was somewhere around… she lost count past seven. Her lungs and ankles were screaming at her to just stop, but she couldn’t. She kept the baseball bat close, ignoring it thumping against her leg. She did not have the _option_ to stop, if she did, she’d lose whoever she was tailing, and she had no idea where she was. Gotham looked very different from up top.

She was beginning to consider yelling at her mysterious figure to _slow_ _down_ before he suddenly dropped. Lian froze for less than a second, before she was running and clambering down the building to get to him and _Jesus this had been a mistake_.

Lian dropped to the fire escape, which was a lot lower than she’d expected. She felt a horrible jarring sensation start in her ankles, and ricochet through her, as her boots made a clang on the old metal. She gritted her teeth as the sound made her ears hurt.

The figure she was chasing froze for a second, and looked back. As quickly as she dared, Lian lifted her hand to drag her hoodie over her face, and pull the actual hood down a little further. She should’ve invested in a pair of sunglasses or something to keep that part of her face hidden, try and mimic the older Superboy.

The figure was still, and then he was off down the alleyway, and Lian swore quietly as she raced down the fire escape to catch up. She hit the tarmac hard when she jumped down, but she staggered to her feet and sprinted after him.

He ducked into a shadowy place hidden in the corner of the alleyway – and vanished. Lian skidded to a halt, and stared. She blinked, and looked around. The street lamps did seem a _little_ conveniently placed…

Lian reached out, into the shadowy place, and found smooth metal instead of rough brick. She swallowed, and pushed against it.

It shifted. Inwards.

Without giving herself time to think and change her mind, Lian pushed what she assumed was a door open, and slipped inside.

Everything was suddenly a lot quieter. Lian felt like she’d just turned the world off, even though she could still faintly hear the hustle and bustle of Gotham’s nightlife outside.

And… the clack of boots on a metal floor. A little in front of her.

Lian, heart in her throat, listened for how long it’d take for one step to fall after the other. She held her breath, and took a step forward. Aside from the shock of realising she was on a steep ramp headed downwards, she was doing okay.

She quickly continued, trying to match the vigilante’s footsteps. As she made her way down in the dark, she remembered that John Mulaney stand-up routine. _This might as well happen. Adult life is already so goddamn weird_.

Lian may have only been thirteen, but she sure felt a hell of a lot older than she did at the beginning of that week.

The footsteps suddenly stopped, and Lian froze. There was a slight groaning and shifting sound, and light suddenly flooded part of the… whatever she was in right now. Lian squinted her eyes, and took the opportunity to look around. She was right with the assumption she was in a long, wide, metal tunnel. It kind of looked like a garage, but, like, long. Really long. Lian felt like she’d walked a damn mile.

She darted behind the figure’s back as he walked into the room in front, the light filling in some of the details and making it clear that he was wearing a helmet, and it was red.

Lian stifled a squeak when she realised, she had been following _Red Hood_. And was kind of hiding behind his back. _From him_.

This… this was not going to end well, was it?

She didn’t dare to look around as she held her breath, and continued to match Red Hood’s footsteps. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed things that looked like motorbikes and cars.

Red Hood stepped through another door, and Lian followed, as close to the guy as she dared to get. He smelled like cigarette smoke and metal – and that was weirdly familiar.

Lian quickly checked both sides of her, one was more of a wide, vaguely cave-esque scene that she didn’t particularly want to explore, and the other was a spare corner with a sort of workbench tucked away in the corner. She ducked away as silently as she could. As she settled into her hiding spot, she realised she now could look around as Red Hood stalked off somewhere out of her field of vision.

It… it looked like she was in a cave. It was _massive_ , you could tell, it was just one of those places that _felt_ big. With stalactites and the distant roar of a waterfall in the background. But Lian was sat on a metal floor, with basically a desk over her head. There was the faint hum of tech everywhere, and if Lian poked her head out, she was convinced she’d see some kind of giant computer.

She held her breath, counted to ten, lifted her baseball bat, and scooted out from under the workbench.

Lian kept close to the metal wall, feeling the chill from the cave and the wall seep in through her hoodie. She bit down on her lip, and immediately let go when she accidentally got some hoodie fabric in her mouth. Ew. Fabric did not taste good.

She skirted along the edge of the wall, turned the corner, and dared to look up. Her jaw dropped.

She said this place felt massive… and holy fuck, did it live up to expectation. The ceiling was… Lian didn’t even _know_ how high, and computer-wise, the screen that took up a good majority of one of the walls looked pretty damn good. Not to _mention_ what looked like at least three other, smaller computers lined up next to it – and was that a _weapons display case?! Next to a giant penny?!_ And there – there was a dinosaur. A fucking – just, _what_?

“ _Ôi chúa ơi_.” She whispered under her breath, Vietnamese coming back to her before English. She pulled her hood down, just in case it was obstructing her vision of seeing more of this… insane place. There was a super long table in the middle, for what looked like conference meetings, but the thought of a corporate meeting happening in a place like this made Lian want to laugh hysterically.

“Lian?” a distorted voice said from behind her, and then all of Lian’s awe and shock and surprise was _gone_ , and the baseball bat was up and she was twisting, ready to swing –

Red Hood looked down at her, and Lian felt her heart stop. Her blood froze over and every limb felt absolutely paralysed as his gloved hands rose to tug at the sides of it, and the helmet came off, and Lian saw familiar tanned skin, eyes covered by a red mask with white lenses, and black hair flopping over his face, marked down the middle with a white streak Lian knew was permanent and natural.

Lian swallowed thickly, trying to process the sight before her.

“Jason?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit. Oh SHIT. OH S H I T
> 
> I was so excited to write this chapter man. And then I didn't for three days because I was putting pressure on myself,,, yeah, but it's here and it's happening and there's gonna be consequences!!
> 
> The Vietnamese Lian speaks here translates to "oh my god", at least, I think it does? if i'm wrong and you speak Vietnamese please correct me and i'll fix it :^)
> 
> next chapter: the aftermath. one of our favourite speedsters and one of our favourite birds has gotten into a spot of trouble, and there's no time to deal with this situation normally
> 
> oh remember in the tags when I said that there'd be angst later? Yeah, after this chapter. that's later :)


	8. A Mob Jumps To Their Feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah. 'tis the aftermath. 
> 
> featuring: Roy being a concerned dad, Dick being a concerned uncle, Jason being an excellent concerned kind-of-dad, and Lian being smarter than she gives herself credit for
> 
> I'm not even gonna say where the chapter title is from anymore now, like you all know

“Jason?”

Jason suddenly tensed, and announced loudly, “Oh – oh _fuck.”_

Lian blinked, not moving, still ready to swing the baseball bat. It… it hadn’t quite sunken in yet. Jason… Jason was the Red Hood. But he couldn’t be. Because it was _Jason._ Jason, who used to read her bedtime stories in silly voices when she was a kid. Jason, who taught her how to bake a cake and how to frost it correctly. Jason, who was better at Vietnamese than Roy and made sure to remind him of it whenever it was brought up in conversation. Jason, who tried to braid her hair and always did abysmally. Jason, who stomped on his cigarettes whenever Lian was around. _That Jason_ _?_

The Jason she knew, and the Red Hood she’d heard about, were two completely different worlds away. They might as well be on different _planets_ , let alone the same _person._

“ _Cái quái gì thế?_ ” Lian whispered to herself. “ _Cái quái gì đang diễn ra vậy?_ ”

Jason sighed heavily, and rubbed his hand over his face, fingers gliding over the mask stuck to his face easily. Like he was used to it. “Lian… I can explain.”

“Go on then.” She said, voice thick with… tears? Not quite. But she was… okay, shock was starting to ebb and confusion was settling in. What the _fuck?_

Jason blinked – ugh, the mask moved with his _eyelids,_ that was weird – and said, with an unconvincing grin, “You’re having a very strange dream, and you’ll wake up in the morning with none of this ever happening –”

Lian wasn’t entirely sure what possessed her, but she suddenly remembered the bat in her hands, and she swung. Jason flinched and jumped back out of the way in surprise, and he fixed her with a startlingly familiar stare. 

“Some funny dream.” Lian commented. Now was _definitely_ not the time to be sassing Jason, but it was kind of her default state. “Okay, I have no idea what’s going on, but I want answers. I’ve known something was up since _Monday.”_

Jason sighed heavily. “Yeah, I figured. Okay, come and sit down, and don’t touch anything that isn’t, like, the floor. Or a seat.” He said, walking over to the conference table. He pulled back a chair, flipped it around, and sat down on it, resting his arms on the backrest. Lian chose to remain standing, but she dropped the bat, but kept it close to her side.

“Okay, questions. Fire away.” Jason said. Lian felt a little angry at his nonchalance, because they were in some weird high-tech super cave and he was the _fucking Red Hood_ and Jesus this actually explained so much –

“Where are we?” she asked, looking around wearily. There were just… so many display cases. So many. And they all held different things that… that just were so not normal. Why was there one with a full Batman suit in it? That was just… so, _so_ surreal. Why would anyone want a full replica of that thing?

“The Batcave.” Jason said. “It’s a cave. Shocking, I know. Batman tends to hang out here a lot. Heard of him?”

Lian froze. Batman. _Batman._ How, the _fuck,_ had she managed to sneak into Batman’s, _Batman's_ , secret hideout!? On _accident!?_

…Guess the suit wasn’t a replica. Fuck.

“Okay.” She said, voice surprisingly tight. Fucking hell, where to go from here? “You’re the Red Hood.” She said, pointing out the obvious. Jason nodded. 

“In the flesh. Nice to meet you.” He joked, holding out his hand for Lian to shake. She just stared at it, and gave Jason a look. He saw her expression, and dropped it. “Okay, yeah, bad time for a joke. I keep forgetting that this is weird for people.”

“How… how did I actually _g_ _et in_ here? If I didn’t even know this existed – and I was just following you. We were in an _alleyway.”_ She said, spreading her hands, and gesturing around the cave. “And now we’re _here?!”_

Jason smirked. “Of course, you go straight to the logistics. You notice all those bikes when we first walked in? Yeah, that’s a way out for them if we ever need to be quick. It’s also a quick way in from my apartment. And I knew you were following me, by the way. You’re not as sneaky as you hoped.”

Lian swallowed. Shit. He… he _knew?_

“I realised by the time we passed the hospital – someone was following me and they were clearly an amateur. Normally, the Red Hood straight up disappearing on them is enough to scare off most people.” Jason explained. He knew her too well, of course he knew that she was dying of curiosity. “Didn’t clock it was you until I got in, though. Don’t know how you hid in the tunnel, but it was smart.”

“I’m not gonna tell you.” She blurted out. “Gotta keep some cards close to my chest and all.” 

“Oh, I bet I can guess. You timed your footsteps to mine, right?” he guessed. Lian glared at him. He snorted at her expression, and she had to fight to not yell at him. “Look, I’ve been dealing with vigilantes pretty much my entire life. This is hardly the first time I’ve seen that trick pulled off.” He mentioned, but then Lian realised he was tapping his thigh, quickly, and with no rhythm.

“You’re freaking out.” Lian noted. Jason tensed. 

“Yeah, no shit. You’re not meant to know this place exists. Because, if you do…” his face suddenly fell, and Lian swear she saw real fear creep into his eyes from behind the white lenses. “Oh, shit. _Shit,_ you’ve seen _way too much_. Okay, Jesus, I’m taking you home.”

Lian’s head spun. He’d been around vigilantes his entire life. That meant that he’d _been_ a vigilante for years, _minimum._ And now he was trying to keep her from all of this _again?_

Jason stood up and hastily put his helmet back on. “I was really upset, because I thought you were lying to me.” Lian said. “Now… well, at least I know why you were lying.”

Jason froze. “Lian…” he said, voice coming out mostly emotionless and distorted through the helmet. “I – look, can this be a conversation we have later? I just need to get you back to the apartment and then –”

There was a sudden beeping sound, and Jason groaned loudly. “Fuck, are you serious right now!?” he said, seemingly to no one. Lian looked up, and realised there was some sort of elevator moving downwards, and quickly. With a person inside, obviously, but they were also wearing a mask and some kind of suit.

“Okay, we’re gonna pretend like that’s not happening, and get out of here.” Jason told her. “Come on, let’s –”

“Hey, Hood, what’s going…” The second vigilante’s voice trailed off as he saw Lian standing in the middle of the cave. “…on?”

He was tall – compared to Lian, at least. Although, with her grand total height of five foot and four inches, that wasn’t hard – but shorter than Jason. His suit was all somewhere between black and dark blue, with the exception being the symbol that was across his chest. It looked like a bird, and was in bright blue.

“Nightwing.” Jason said, and Lian could’ve sworn he was gritting his teeth under the helmet. “Now is a bit of a bad time, as you can see.”

Oh. _This_ was Nightwing. But that was… weird. Nightwing was a Blüdhaven hero, not Gotham. Why was he _here?_

“There is a child. In the Batcave.” Nightwing said flatly, looking directly at Lian, although very clearly talking to Jason. There was something familiar about his voice, and what of his face Lian could see. What _was_ it?

“Hardly a new phenomenon, but yes.” Jason said quietly. “This was an accident; I’m taking her home now.”

Nightwing gave Red Hood a _very_ familiar look of exasperation, and that’s when it clicked. 

“Uncle Dick?” Lian said. She frowned, and turned to Jason. “Dick is in on this too? What, is _everyone_ in your family a vigilante, or just you two?”

Dick’s eyes widened. He pressed his hands together, like he was praying, took a deep breath in… and then yelled. No words, just a frustrated yell. 

“Jason, what the tepid fuck!?” he shouted, Jason didn’t react. Dick begun to pace anxiously, rambling as Lian watched in confusion. “Lian knows Jason’s identity, Lian knows my identity, Lian is in the fucking Batcave…” he pivoted on one foot and pointed a finger at Jason accusingly. “Roy is going to _murder_ you.”

“Oh joy, I’ve always been up for a second round.” He commented flatly. Dick flinched. 

“You can’t make death jokes when we’ve got such a serious situation on our hands!” he near-shrieked, hands going up to his hair. “How did this even _happen?!”_

Lian winced. “Uh… I snuck out and followed Jason.” 

Dick pressed his gloved hands to his mask, and inhaled shakily. “You. Fucking. _What?”_

“Over rooftops and everything. She’s actually pretty athletic.” Jason commented, ruffling her hair the way he always did. Apparently, Jason coped with a stressful situation by cracking jokes and acting as if nothing was happening. Lian… couldn't relate.

“I’m going to have a heart attack, I’m not even her fucking father, oh my _god.”_ Dick said, flopping into the chair Jason had left out, and resting his head in his hands.

Her dad… wait. Her dad had been going out with Jason at night, and Jason had been talking to Arsenal before he left. Arsenal was a redhead, had tattoos, and used a fucking bow. Lian had never seen the tattoos up close, but she knew they were in green ink. She wanted to scream; it was so _obvious._ Did he even _try_ and hide it!?

“Dad is Arsenal. Oh my god.” She said quietly. Okay. This was the _weirdest_ situation she’d ever been in. But this was fine. 

Dick blinked. “Did – did you just _figure that out?_ Right now?” 

Lian nodded, not quite getting why this was such a shock. It was painfully obvious, now that she thought about it. Her dad often spent time in other cities, and whilst Arsenal was mainly found in and around Star City, he was often in other places too. Like _Gotham._

“I’m… gonna tell everyone else to stay away from the Cave.” Dick said tiredly. Jason nodded in agreement, and pulled off his helmet. 

“I’ll listen in. Roy won’t be happy.” Jason shuddered. “I’m gonna die again, aren’t I?” 

Dick shook his head, pressing a finger to his ear. _Oh,_ earpieces. That explained that thing all the way at the beginning of the week, when they were driving to Gotham. Of course there were no phones out, because that wasn’t how they were talking! _Duh._ “He won’t kill you, but I think you better be ready to sleep on your own couch for a while.”

…what was with that? And the _death_ jokes? 

Dick cleared his throat. “This is Nightwing, reporting in. Can everyone who can hear me state so?”

“And Red Hood, I’m also here.” Jason said quickly, his hand up against the side of his face. 

They were both quiet for a moment, as Lian stared at the two of them, trying to process exactly what she was looking at. 

“No, we’re not in danger. We’re at the Cave. We need to tell you that no one, eh, ‘cept maybe Arsenal, can come over here. Why?” he sent a look over at Jason who smiled guiltily. “Oh, I’ll let Red Hood explain. As it’s his _fault.”_

Jason cleared his throat. “So… uh, Bullseye found out. She’s in the Cave right now.”

Bullseye? Wait, they were talking about her… Lian felt her face light up into a grin. She even had a codename! That was so cool! 

Both Jason and Dick winced as even Lian heard a noise so loud go through the comms, that it was distorted. Right, shit, priorities.

“Christ, Arsenal, she’s not hurt.” Dick said, rubbing his ear in pain. “How can you even yell that _loudly?_ Jesus.”

“You’d be surprised.” Jason commented dully. “Uh, we’re not sure exactly, she followed me on my way out and into the Cave. I took my helmet off and – Robin, shut the fuck up – I don’t know _why,_ I just _did_ – and – _yes,_ I’m wearing a domino, have you noticed my fucking hair!? It’s a little _distinctive_ – can I please just fucking speak!?”

He groaned as Lian heard a minute buzz of noise. Dick shot him a look between ‘you brought this on yourself’ and pure and utter sympathy. It was a weird combination. 

“Bullseye’s in the Cave, she knows I’m Red Hood, and she clocked Nightwing. No, she actually figured that one out herself. And Arsenal.” Jason explained. There was a long pause. 

“Uh… I love you?” Jason added hopefully. Dick snorted.

“You’re coming to the –? Okay, fair, fair. See you in – you’re already on your way, aren’t you? Okay see you when you get here. I’m sorry, please don’t hate me. She’s taking it really well, if that helps?” Jason was still smiling, but it looked a little scared. Lian felt sorry for future-Jason, after her dad actually got here.

 _“Annnnnd_ he’s offline.” Dick said, standing up. “Oracle just confirmed. Okay, so, I’m gonna leave, because I don’t want to be around when the blood hits the water.”

Lian grabbed his wrist. Oh no, he didn’t get to accidentally reveal his secret identity and then bounce. Time to play up to Dick’s weakness to cute things. “Please don’t leave, Uncle Dick. I don’t really know what’s going on, and…” she trailed off, looking sadly at her feet. She could tell Dick was struggling internally, and she was mentally grinning. _Gotcha._

“…fine.” Dick said, sitting back down. “But I am totally innocent, okay?”

Lian nodded. “Oh yeah, I couldn’t believe it when I thought that you might be part of the mafia.”

Jason spluttered. “The _mafia?”_

Lian took a seat at the table, right across from Dick, and put her baseball bat on the table. “Yeah, I thought you were all in the mafia. Also, I found the guns underneath your floor. I have photo evidence and everything. How do you read those case files? They’re _impossible.”_ Lian said, everything coming out in a rush. 

Dick blinked. “I mean… that’s fair. I can definitely see why you would assume that.”

Lian jumped up in her seat, a sudden thought coming to her. “Hey, I was pretty sure Tim and Damian were in on it as well – are they also vigilantes? What about Cass? Can she _actually_ read minds? Oh! Do you know anyone with powers?”

“And none of those questions are getting answers. Well, except one. Cass can’t read minds.” Jason confirmed, sitting next to Dick. “But, Lian, we can’t tell you anything more. You already know way too much to be safe as is.”

Lian frowned. “But… you guys are vigilantes. How am I not safe? I’ve seen you guys on the news; you know. You beat up criminals like every night!”

Jason winced, and Dick sighed. 

“Lian… I don’t really know how to tell you this, but…” he looked at Jason, almost if he was asking for permission. Jason shook his head minutely, and muttered something. 

“If – okay, let’s say, someone saw you spending time with your dad, whilst he was Arsenal, okay?” Dick said. Lian nodded, having a feeling she wasn’t going to like what came next. 

“He’s not telling this to scare you, he’s telling you this so you can understand.” Jason cut in quickly. “This is an absolute worst-case scenario, not a definitive thing that’ll happen. Alright? Keep that in mind.”

Lian nodded again, and leaned back in her chair, and folded her arms. She _really_ didn’t like where this was going.

Dick, ever tactful, soldiered on. “So, you’re seen with your dad as Arsenal, right? And then some villain sees the two of you together multiple times, and they realise ‘hey, maybe this kid is important to Arsenal’, and they kidnap you to get to your dad.” He explained carefully. 

Lian stiffened. “That could happen?” she said quietly. Jason nodded slowly. 

“Yeah. Unfortunately. It…” he trailed off, looking away. He looked… he looked like he was somewhere else. Like his eyes were watching something that wasn’t the wall. “It can happen to the best of us.”

Dick rested his hand on Jason’s arm. “But, with any luck, no one will even _think_ about kidnapping you. Because there’d be no point, because,” and he got a very serious look on his face, one that made Lian want to sit up straight and listen. “because, as far as anyone is aware, Lian Harper knows _nothing_ about this, okay?”

Lian nodded silently. Oh yeah, she got it. She got the message loud and clear. 

There was sudden thump, and Lian jumped. Dick and Jason were on their feet, Jason’s hand resting on a gun, Dick with his forearms up. Lian noticed that he had two… rod, stick thingies attached to his forearms, and they were producing a low hum. She noticed that both of them did that, the slightest noise and they were _ready._ It was… kinda impressive and kinda scary. Why would they _need_ to be so alert?

Thankfully, it was Roy. He came through and around the corner, and Lian was relieved to see his face. She was less relieved to see that he was very clearly, absolutely furious. 

“Jason fucking Todd, what the _fuck_ are you playing at?” he spat. Jason winced, and dropped his hand from the gun. 

“Hey, uh, I can explain.” He said quietly. 

“Hi, cha.” Lian said quickly. It was kind of Jason’s fault that she was here, but in all honesty, it was her fault. She never should have sneaked out in the first place.

Her dad stopped, and saw her. Noticed that she was in a hoodie, had the baseball bat with her, and was sitting quite comfortably at the table. And he noticed she’d used ‘cha’ instead of dad again. 

Clearly, seeing her safe made him relax slightly, because some of the tension came out of his body, and he rushed over to see her. 

“Hey Princess, why are you here?” he asked quickly, kneeling down and pulling her into a hug. “Jesus Christ, I got so scared when Jason told me you were _here_ of all places.” He told her quietly.

Lian wriggled a little, before getting her arms free so she could hug him back. She got it, he wasn’t really that mad, he was just scared. Like Lian got scared when he came back from other cities with bruises that Lian now understood. 

“It was… an accident. I snuck out, I followed Jason, and I got in by accident. I’m sorry for making you scared.” She said, squeezing him back. “Please don’t be mad at Jason, he didn’t know.”

Her dad sighed. “Well, I am still a little mad. But I’m glad to know you’re safe. He pulled away, and straightened up, before stiffening again. “Wait a second, you followed Jason?”

Oh boy. Here it comes. 

“Uh… yeah.” Lian admitted, looking down at her shoes. 

“It’s like one o’clock in the morning.” He said, not sounding… angry, more just shocked and a little disappointed. “It’s dark, you don’t know Gotham that well, and – oh my _god,”_ ah, there was the tone change. “you followed him over the roofs, didn’t you? Oh my – fucking hell, I am _not_ letting you out of my sight for at least a _month,_ young lady.” 

Lian nodded. “Fair. But I have a question for you, cha.” She knew calling him ‘cha’ was a low blow, but she felt a little justified. All the shock and relief and confusion was ebbing away now, and she… well, she felt a little angry. She knew it was stupid and illogical and technically unfounded, since they hadn’t told her to, you know, _keep her alive_ , but she was still _mad_ because… well, how long had this been going on for, exactly? How long had everyone been lying to her?

“Why didn’t you _tell_ me?” she asked, frustration bubbling up and making her voice crack. She looked up at his blurry form, and to her horror, she found her vision swimming with tears. “You _lied,_ cha.” 

She sobbed, and pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to stop the flow of tears, and failing miserably. Her dad had _lied,_ and had _been_ lying, for _potentially years!_ And – and she knew it was hypocritical to be mad at her dad and not Jason for the exact same thing, but Jason wasn’t her fucking father! No _matter_ how much he felt like one at times.

“ _Con yêu_.” Her dad said, a little clumsily. “ _Cha xin lỗi. Cha yêu con_.” his accent was bad, and his cadence was a little weird. But he was apologising. He sounded desperate and upset. 

And Lian didn’t want to hear it. 

“ _Đừng nói dối với con nữa_.” she spat, and she picked up the baseball bat, and dodged past her dad. He didn’t make an attempt to follow her, but Jason did. She got to the garage place, before her caught her by the shoulder, her dad and Dick’s voices echoing around back there in the Cave.

“Lian, wait.” Jason said quickly. “Look, I know you’re mad, but don’t run into the middle of Gotham at one in the goddamn morning.” He crouched a little so he could face her eye-to-eye, and wiped the tears away from her eyes. “Look, I’ll take you back to my place, okay? After that you can ignore me, tell me to fuck off, or force me to watch cartoons with you. I don’t mind. But if I do, will you please stay there? So, we all know you’re safe?”

Lian bit down on her lip. She inhaled shakily, and nodded. “Okay. Can – can I have a hug, please?” she asked quietly. She’d gotten into the habit of _asking_ if she could be hugged instead of just going for it, after she’d hugged Damian a year or two ago when he wasn’t expecting it, and he’d freaked out a little. Roy wasn’t pleased when he learnt he’d slapped her on instinct, but she mentioned that he’d actually apologised, multiple times, actually, and he cooled down a little. They all knew a Damian Wayne apology was a rare one.

Jason nodded, and pulled her in. She clung on, and breathed in the smell of his jacket. He smelt like leather, cigarette smoke, and metal. All smells that weren’t supposed to be particularly comforting, but were anyway. 

“I’m so tired.” She admitted. “I’m so, _so_ tired.” Lian herself wasn’t entirely sure if she meant emotionally, or physically, but both were pretty accurate. 

“Hmm, I wonder if I can still pick you up?” Jason said, right into her ear, and Lian could almost _hear_ the smile in his voice. She made a grumbling sound, but still hid the smile on her face when he picked her up with little to no effort.

“You sure you’re thirteen, and not, like, three? You’re light as a feather, kiddo.” He commented, standing up with her. Lian instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, like she used to do as a kid. 

“You’re just strong.” Lian argued, not bothering to put any bite into it. Jason shrugged, and suddenly swung her around, and tossed her onto his back. She shrieked, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh my god! Warn me next time!”

“Nah, takes all the fun out of it.” Jason joked as he began walking. Lian dropped her head, resting it in between his shoulders as he walked on through the dark tunnel. 

She wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, but soon she found herself being woken up by Jason attempting to climb a fire escape one handed, his other hand keeping her arms in place, with the baseball bat tucked under his arm.

“Jay?” she asked quietly. Jason stopped trying to pull down the ladder, and readjusted her on his back. 

“Hey Lian, you alright there? You were quiet, so I knew something was up.” He joked. Lian yawned, and unhooked her legs from his waist, and jumped down. 

“Fell asleep.” She explained. “Sorry.”

“Eh, don’t apologise.” Jason said, jumping up, and yanking the fire escape down, and Lian gritted her teeth against the harsh noise. “It’s been a long night for you.”

Jason helped her clamber up the ladder, and made sure to keep his arms open when Lian jumped across rooftops. She appreciated it a lot, mainly because she was tired and really not in the mood to leap across even more alleyways as it was, but they had to get home somehow.

By the time they got back to Jason’s apartment, Jason took pity on her and carried her down the fire escape, and even through the window despite her protests. (“You’re basically asleep on your feet, let me carry you.” “Fuck off.” “You must be several dollars deep into your swear debt, huh?”)

He didn’t say anything when she stumbled into the living room, and flopped face first onto the couch. He simply took off his helmet, sat her up, encouraged her to kick off her shoes, and wrapped the blanket from her bed around her. 

“Thanks.” She muttered sleepily, lying down. 

“No problem. Get some rest.” He said kindly. “I’m probably not going out again tonight, so –” he frowned, and pressed his hand to his ear. “Speak of the devil.” He muttered.

His face fell, and his eyes behind his mask widened. _“Shit._ I’ve got to go. It’s not your dad, don’t worry. It’s –” he swallowed. “One more time, Oracle. I – I might’ve misheard.” He swore again as ‘Oracle’, whoever that was, apparently repeated their statement.

“It’s the Flash, and Red Robin.” Jason explained quickly. He tucked in the edges of Lian’s blanket, even though his hands were shaking. “I gotta go, apartment’s locked, guns under the floorboards. You’ll be just fine.” He reassured, and then soon was gone, jamming his helmet back on as he left. Lian felt anxiety stirring in her gut, and a thousand questions crowd her mind, but she couldn’t fight the exhaustion, and soon found herself fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop I wonder what happened :D
> 
> Jason being soft with Lian is my religion now okay thank you
> 
> Vietnamese spoken here is:  
> Cái quái gì thế? Cái quái gì đang diễn ra vậy? = what the hell? what the hell is going on?
> 
> Con yêu. Cha xin lỗi. Cha yêu con. = sweetheart. I'm sorry. I love you.
> 
> Đừng nói dối với con nữa. = don't lie to me anymore.
> 
> EDIT: tysm to Ghosty for correcting my shitty google translate Vietnamese, much appreciated!
> 
> next chapter: shit what happened to the bOYS


	9. So, Dance Fucker Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath 2, electric boogaloo. 
> 
> featuring: goddammit Lian figured another one out, Lian and Roy make friends again, and there's an unexpected guest.
> 
> (quick trigger warning, towards the end of this chapter, there's a wound described, and blood is mentioned but not described in detail. read with caution babes <3)

  
Lian woke up on the couch, her neck aching. It was surprisingly cold in the apartment, and quiet. 

She sat up slowly, and tugged the blanket around her tighter, shivering. She remembered Jason’s parting words, and felt a little sick. Did he ever get back?

She stood up, and cracked open Jason’s door, and pressed her eye to the crack. To her horror, Jason was not there. And to her confusion, her dad was. He was still fully dressed as Arsenal, and not even under the covers. His quiver had been thrown into the corner, spilling arrows, and he still had his hand around his bow. As silently as possible, Lian shut the door again. Must’ve been a long night.

So, her dad was there, and completely fine, if not exhausted. But there was no Jason, and Lian was worried. She had to know if he was okay. 

She went into the bathroom – in order to not wake her dad – and pulled out her phone. Ten in the morning, not too early. She scrolled through her contacts, and selected ‘Dick Grayson’. She smiled a little at the circus emoji next to Dick’s name, that he’d insisted on when she got her phone in the first place.

Pressing ‘call’, and leaning against the wall, Lian found herself staring at herself in the mirror. She looked… exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked a little pale. Her hair was an absolute bird’s nest, and she wondered vaguely how she was going to get some particularly nasty looking tangles out. 

“Hello?” Dick’s voice said, startling Lian out of her thoughts. “What’s up, Li?” 

“Uh.” Right, shit. How was she meant to go about this? “Hi, Dick. Do you know if Jason is okay? He’s not here right now, and I thought you might know…”

Dick was quiet for a moment, and there was a sniffing sound. “He’s… he’s fine. He’s at the manor with us. He got a little hurt.” He explained, voice breaking a little on the last word. “He’s fine though, don’t worry. He should be back today. Alfred made him stay the night.”

Lian smiled at the mental image of Alfred forcing Jason into a bed. Her smile dropped as she realised something. “Wait, Alfred knows?”

“Yep.” Dick said, his voice shaky. “I – he’s pretty –” Dick suddenly sobbed, making Lian jump. “Fuck, sorry, I – are you okay, Lian? Is that why you called?”

“Are _you_ okay?” Lian asked. “You’re crying. I called because I was worried about Jay.”

Dick was quiet, and then there was a rustling sound. “I – yeah, I’m not doing great. It’s a little ironic consider–” he paused to sniff, “considering what we told you last night.”

Lian suddenly felt as if there were a vice around her heart. Last night… Dick was Nightwing and telling her about the possibilities of her being kidnapped. Okay, cool, terrifying, not like she hadn’t thought about it before, like at 3am when she couldn’t sleep. But… it was just a lot different when it was actually, possibly, happening.

“Has – has someone been kidnapped?” she asked, keeping her voice low. She thought back to what Jason had said, before he left. Two other vigilantes…

“Is it, uh, Red Robin?” she asked, picking the first name she remembered. “And… the Flash?”

Dick was quiet again. Lian heard a quiet sob. “Y-yeah. It’s them. They’re pretty – pretty important to me, so… So, I’m not taking it well.” 

“Do… do you wanna talk about something that makes you happy?” Lian offered. “Dad does that with me sometimes. What about Wally? Tell me about him!”

Lian didn’t know what she was expecting, maybe another small silence, but she wasn’t expecting Dick to burst into tears. She could hear him sobbing through the phone, and she felt incredibly guilty. 

“Jesus, Lian, sorry.” Dick said tearfully, after a few moments. “I – I promise I’ll explain, but…”

“It’s okay.” Lian said quietly, feeling a little awkward. What were you meant to do when an adult started crying on you? “You don’t need to yet.” 

Dick sniffled again. “Thanks, Lian. Y’know, you’re really mature, anyone ever tell you that?”

Lian smiled, despite knowing Dick couldn’t see it. “A couple times, but people are telling me lots lately. Next thing you know, you’ll be telling me _Wally_ is the Flash.” Lian joked, in an attempt to make the conversation lighter. She could tell, as soon as Dick fell silent again, that it hadn’t worked.

Then, something clicked. 

From what Lian knew, Wally, her dad, and Dick had all been friends since they were kids. And if her dad was a vigilante, alongside Dick, what were the odds that Wally would be as well? 

But he was late. To literally everything. All the time. That wouldn’t be very characteristic of someone with super speed – unless… unless that was on purpose. 

“Dick… _is_ Wally the Flash?” 

“…No?” Dick argued weakly. 

Well. Okay then. That – that definitely answered the question if they knew anyone with superpowers. Apparently, Dick knew one particular person _very_ well. Well enough that Lian had a dress in the back of her closet to wear for their wedding in a couple of months.

“I won’t tell dad I know.” Lian promised. “If you don’t want me to.”

Dick sighed heavily. “No – you can tell him. But you _must_ stress that I only gave it away because I’m tired and _extremely_ upset. Okay? I swear, you’re too good at the whole ‘figuring out secret identities by accident’ thing.”

Lian nodded, grin pulling at the corner of her mouth. “I know, it’s _my_ superpower. But, seriously, is there anything you want to talk about, though? Something that isn’t about all of this crime fighting stuff?”

There was a sudden voice from Dick’s side, and he mumbled something in response. “Sorry kiddo, I gotta go, Jay is waking up. I’ll call you when he’s ready to get back, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks, Uncle Dick.” Lian said, feeling relief wash over her chest. “See ya.”

“See ya, little wing!” he said, still sounding sad, but his usual cheerfulness peeking through slightly. Then there was a beep, and the line was dead. 

Lian closed her phone, and slipped it into her pocket, and then paused. 

Dick had called her ‘little wing’. He’d never done that before. Even with his excessive love of nicknames, that was one she’d never had the experience of even witnessing, let alone being called.

Lian stepped out of the bathroom, and checked in on her dad again – still passed out – and thought about what she should do next. Okay… so, Wally was the Flash. Dick was Nightwing, Jason was the Red Hood, and her dad was Arsenal. 

She froze as she realised something. Nightwing, Flash, Arsenal… all Justice League members. She’d once, as a kid, told Dick, a member of the fucking _Justice League_ , that his colouring was terrible. 

They _literally_ fought aliens and stopped apocalypses and all sorts of things and she was family to one of them biologically, but emotionally, could be anywhere from three to _forty._ That – that was hard to process. 

So, she decided to just leave it alone, and come back to it later. 

…but she had figured out three of their identities. By accident. By _accident._ How did that even _happen?!_ How was she meant to explain this to _anyone_ who didn’t also know?! ‘Yeah, I’m pretty much like 100% sure my dad has helped stop the end of the goddamn world at some point, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he told me my mom was some kind of super awesome hero who died dramatically or something. Or a supervillain, because having a kid with a supervillain just seems more like something he’d do, because he’s an idiot.’

Just… _how_ was she meant to cope with this?! 

So much for leaving it aside for later, huh?

Lian went into her room, flopped down on her surprisingly cold bed, pressed her face into her pillow, and groaned. Okay. Jesus. This was just _n_ _ot fair_. Her dad – he’d lied to her. For literal years, everyone had. But everyone had also saved the entire goddamn world and more lives than one person could count. And they’d lied so she wouldn’t _die_ or get kidnapped and… and Lian still felt mad but she felt _bad_ about being mad because no one really _deserved_ it. 

Other kids worried about homework, Lian worried about how to feel about her father’s interesting career choices. 

She rolled onto her front, and stared up at the ceiling. God, there were so many _questions._ And so few answers. 

Lian had figured out the identities of three Justice League members. Granted, she clocked her dad and Dick because she knew them both incredibly well, and Dick had been caught off-guard at the time. And her dad… well, it was painfully obvious. And Wally – Wally, she had only realised because she put two and two together, and Dick had been upset and not really in the right emotional state to deny it. Because his fiancé, and someone else he cared deeply about, had been kidnapped. 

Oh shit. Wally had been _kidnapped._ Alongside another vigilante that Lian probably knew outside the mask, Red Robin. (Could she figure out–? No. Knowing four of them was bad enough. Purposefully prying into secret identities could get her in big trouble. Or worse.) God, she hoped Wally’s superspeed got him some kind of super healing factor… or he was good at escaping places. 

Wait. Member of the Justice League – of _course!_ How hadn’t she realised before! There’d be information online, public stuff that was safe for your average heroes nerd to know! 

She bolted up, and grabbed her phone again. Google, don’t fail her now.

After about twenty minutes of reading what information was available online, and watching a couple recordings of people catching the Flash in a fight – which, now that she’d watched some interviews, Wally didn’t even change his voice that much as the Flash. He literally told the exact same _awful_ puns that both he and Dick used constantly. It was less obvious than her dad, but _still_ – she could confirm, he did indeed have some kind of super healing. Or… more speed healing. It was like the wounds closed up really fast. Someone had caught quite a clear shot of Wally getting his leg sliced, and it repairing itself quickly. Which… was kinda gross to watch, but also morbidly fascinating.

She googled Nightwing as well, there was some speculation on something called ‘The Robin Timeline’ which, admittedly, did sound a little conspiracy theory-esque, but _apparently,_ there’d been four or five Robins, and Nightwing had apparently started as one. It was generally agreed that he’d been the first Robin to show up, mainly based on similar fighting styles and age. Which, yeah. Lian could understand. She’d have to ask Dick himself. Or Jason. Or her dad.

Speaking of her dad, he’d woken up now. She could hear him moving around, probably getting out of the Arsenal costume and into normal clothes. 

Lian debated going out to see him. She was still mad, but… she got it. Annoyingly. She understood, but she was still frustrated that she couldn’t have _all_ the answers, at least not immediately. Maybe she’d be allowed to know more as she got older, maybe she wouldn’t. All she knew now was that she had gotten quite a few more pieces of a gigantic puzzle that was far from being finished. 

Although… he could answer more questions than Google could.

Lian sat up, and realised she was still in her sneaking out gear. And had slept in it. And she felt kinda gross. She changed into her normal t-shirt and jeans, and bothered to undo her now ruined braid, and brush her hair out. 

Once she was properly sorted, she went out into the kitchen to see her dad, who was also in a t-shirt and jeans, because they dressed exactly the same, pouring a bowl of cereal. Upon seeing her in the doorway, he silently grabbed a second bowl and started filling that. 

Lian sat down at the kitchen table, and swallowed nervously. 

“Uh… dad?” she asked quietly, already kind of regretting this decision. 

“Yeah?” he asked, pushing her cereal towards her. God, the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.

“I’m sorry.” Lian started, surprising apparently both herself _and_ her dad. “I – I’m sorry for sneaking out a bunch of times and I’m sorry for being mad and running off from you in the Batcave.” 

Her dad blinked, and then smiled at her, and the tension in the room ebbed away. “You’re forgiven, but you didn’t need to apologise for being mad. I get it. I can’t say I wouldn’t react similarly if I were you.”

Lian smiled as she ducked her head, and grabbed a spoonful of cereal. “Yeah, but… I’m still kinda mad. But I get it.” She explained. “Do – do you think you could answer some questions for me? If you can’t tell me, just say so.” Lian offered. Her dad nodded, and leaned back in his chair.

“Course I can.” He said, smiling. “Fire away, Princess.”

“How long have you been a vigilante for?”

“Oh, a while. Since I was… same age as you are now, actually. Started when I was thirteen.”

Lian blinked. _“Thirteen?_ And you were doing this kind of stuff, like, every night? I did it _once_ and I was –” she cut herself off, forgetting that her dad didn’t know about that time with the kid and the drunk. 

“You _what?”_ her dad asked, looking somewhere between worried and completely aghast. 

“I… kinda ran into a kid, one night I tried to follow you.” Lian explained awkwardly. “He was being cornered by this drunk guy, because he stole a watch. But he was crying and afraid, so I threw a can at the drunk guy, hit him with Jason’s baseball bat, and he kinda fell back and hit his head on a wall. He passed out, and I made the kid give me the watch, and I put it next to him because he was unconscious you know and I just thought –” she was cut off by her dad putting his hand over hers.

“Lian. Sweetheart. You’re rambling.” He said, not unkindly. “Slow down, and breathe. You gave the watch back to the drunk guy, and then?”

Lian exhaled heavily. “I took the kid home. And then I came back here. This was on Wednesday night.” She explained. 

Roy smiled widely. “So, you helped out a little kid and returned stolen property? Lian, that’s great!”

Lian jerked her head up to stare at hm incredulously. “It – you’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad? That’s –” he starts, but then there was a sudden, sharp knock on the door.

Lian paused. “Do you want me to –?” she offered, but her dad shook his head, and stood up, suspicion clear on his face. 

He opened the door, and in tumbled a vigilante Lian had never seen before, in black, red, a little yellow, and blood. 

Lian’s eyes widened as the vigilante clung to the doorframe, panting. “No Hood?” he rasped out, hand going to clutch his side. “Comm’s broken.” He explained, as her dad grabbed him by the arms and led him into the apartment, shutting the door behind him. 

The vigilante had long-ish hair, and a long cape that was secured by two belts over his chest, which had a little symbol in the middle. Kind of like the outline of a bird. He also had one of those masks stuck to his face, only his was black like Dick’s and not red like Jason’s.

Her dad led him to the sofa, and motioned for him to pull off the cape. “Jesus, Red, what happened?” he asked, raising the arm of this ‘Red’, and frowning at what Lian assumed was a wound. 

“Fucking… knives.” He said, gasping when Roy made him twist his arm. “Flash took the fall for me, let me get away. _Fuck!_ Sorry – think it’s broken.”

“Should I get the first-aid kit?” Lian asked quietly. Her dad and Red jumped, and Red cried out in pain again.

 _“Shit,_ Lian’s here?” Red said through gritted teeth. “Thought Hood would be here – hoped you’d be out. Shit, I’m dizzy.” 

“Yeah, kiddo, we could really do with that first-aid kit.” Her dad said. “Red Robin, listen to me. Do you think you’re gonna pass out?”

Ah. Red _Robin,_ not just Red – _w_ _ait a f_ _ucking second_. Red Robin had been kidnapped alongside the Flash.

Lian stood up clumsily as Red Robin nodded, and just as she dodged into the bathroom to get the first-aid kit, there was a sudden crash, and her dad yelling _“Fuck!”._ Lian rushed out to see Red Robin on the floor, his face pressed against the rug, and a _very_ long and _very_ red wound on the back of his neck.

Were… were wounds meant to be that wet looking?

“Lian, first-aid kit, _quick._ I’m gonna need a needle, some thread, and some disinfectant shit.” Her dad said quickly, grabbing a hair tie from his wrist, and grabbing the longer strands of Red Robin’s hair, and tying them up, away from the wound. Lian couldn’t stop _staring._ There – there was just a lot of blood. Fuck. So much _blood._

She shakily opened the first-aid kit, and grabbed a reel of thread, because it was the first thing she saw. The needle and disinfectant followed quickly after. 

“Okay, great, that’s great Lian.” Her dad said quickly, and Lian realised he’d taken off his shirt and torn it into strips without hesitation, and was currently using one of those strips to wipe away the blood. “Right, get out your phone, and call Dick. If you call Jay, he’ll come running and he needs to stay put, the self-sacrificing bastard.” 

He was rambling. Lian couldn’t blame him. This – there was a goddamn vigilante bleeding out on the floor of Jason’s apartment. Okay, focus on saving his life now, freak the fuck out later. 

Dick picked up after the first ring. 

“Lian? Jason isn’t –” he started, but Lian swallowed, and cut him off.

“No. It’s not that. We’ve – we’ve got Red Robin.”

“…I’ll be over in ten.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL. TIM'S NOT DEAD. GOOD TO KNOW.
> 
> can I just say I literally had to restrain myself from adding unnecessary extra sentences to make this a solid 30k. 
> 
> Also I hate the Red Robin cowl so let's just collectively pretend it doesn't exist. Timmy doesn't deserve that.
> 
> next chapter: Lian becomes a little more familiar with birds.


	10. He Never Had A Chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boyyyyyy it's like 1am, enjoy my sleep deprived editing <3
> 
> (trigger warning for... the entire chapter, pretty much. Kinda graphic descriptions of wounds, blood, and DIY medical procedures. if it's really too much for some people, I've left a summary of what happens this chapter in the ending notes. here's your warning, read safe babes <3)
> 
> featuring: Lian has to play doctor, she becomes a lot more familiar with our favourite birds, and there's a pleasant surprise waiting for Dick

Lian put down her phone with shaking hands. “Dick is on his way.” She said quietly, not wanting to turn back to the scene behind her.

“Great, okay, help me out here.” Her dad said. “We need to staunch the bleeding.”

Lian didn’t move. Because if she looked behind her, there’d be a fucking vigilante bleeding out on the floor, and that… that just made everything so much more real. Red Robin was probably someone she knew, probably someone she cared about. And he was unconscious and hurt, because people _wanted_ to hurt him, and Lian didn’t know how to help, she didn’t even know who he _was._

“Lian.” Her dad said, pulling her out of her thoughts. “I know it’s scary, but he really needs our help. Okay?” her dad said, his voice soft.

It didn’t matter who Red Robin was. He was hurt, and Lian could help. Even just a little.

She swallowed, and turned around. Her dad had pulled down part of Red Robin’s suit, so he could reach his neck. Both the wound, and the vigilante that sported it, didn’t look great. What Lian could see of his face was weirdly pale, and his mask was starting to peel and curl upwards, the skin underneath that looking red and raw. The wound itself was bleeding a lot, and red around the edges. Lian tried not to notice the ragged skin already soaked scarlet.

Her dad was pressing the torn strips of shirt to Red Robin’s neck, and Lian’s stomach twisted when she realised that he was trying to keep the blood in. He beckoned her over, and she knelt on the other side of the vigilante, back against the edge of the couch. Now that she was closer, she could hear him breathing. Raggedly and shallowly, but he was breathing. And… and that was comforting, in a weird way. It was a sign he was alive.

“Okay, I’m gonna need you to keep your hands on this.” Her dad said, his voice shockingly even and calm for what was going on. “They might get a little bloody, but we _really_ need to do this.” He insisted. “See where my hands are?” he said, nodding at Red Robin’s neck. “Put your hands there, and hold down. We’re applying pressure to try and stop the bleeding. At the very least, it’ll slow it down.” He explained, just like he did with anything else new Lian had to do. It was kind of jarring, and kind of relieving. Lian could almost pretend this was just some complicated piece of homework, and that there wasn’t a potential life hanging in the balance.

He took his hands away, and Lian tucked her hair behind her ears to keep it out of her face, and bit down on her lip as she replaced them. It was uncomfortably warm, and she could feel liquid slide beneath her hands, and the ridge of the actual cut. She fought back the urge to gag.

“Okay, okay, that’s fantastic. You’re doing really well.” Her dad continued, grabbing the bottle of disinfectant. Although, Lian realised, reading the slightly scratched label on the bottle, it said antiseptic. Whatever it was, it was to clean out Red Robin’s wound. She knew that much.

“Alright, move your hands. Bleeding’s stopped for now, but we gotta work quick.” Her dad said, uncapping the bottle and dribbling it over the wound. Even from where she was kneeling, Lian caught the faint smell of alcohol. She wrinkled her nose in sympathy about how that would sting if she were in Red Robin’s position.

“For now.” Lian echoed, feeling anxiety curl in her gut. “He’s – he’s not gonna die, is he?” she guessed, hoping she was dead wrong. To her relief, her dad shook his head.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” He frowned at the wound, and chewed his lip. “Yeah, I’m gonna have to stitch it.” He said resignedly, closing the cap of the disinfectant with a loud click, and tossing it aside. “God, I hate doing stitches. They’re always awkward.”

Lian fought the urge to laugh. Maybe she was a little hysterical, but it just felt so absurd. Yes, of _course_ stitching wounds was awkward. Because that was a complaint that made sense. The sense of _normalcy_ in such a weird situation made Lian want to burst into giggles. It also kind of made her want to throw up.

She hadn’t even realised she’d been zoning out until her dad waved his slightly bloody hand in front of her face. “Hey there Princess, welcome back to the living.” He said with a kind smile.

But then, his face became more serious as he continued. “I need your help. I can do it without, but it’ll be slower. And we really need to get this closed as soon as possible. Do you think you’ll be alright helping me? And I mean helping with the stitches.”

Lian swallowed, and kind of regretted it. Her throat felt too tight. Here was her chance – she could just say no. She wouldn’t have to help sew up a wound on a familiar face that still hadn’t quite clicked yet, and she could wipe off the blood that had gotten on her hands already.

She looked down at Red Robin, at the vicious slash that started just below his hairline and ended somewhere around where neck met back. She heard his ragged breathing, and thought to the way he’d gasped in pain when he was still conscious.

Lian nodded. “I’ll help. Tell me what to do.” She said, her voice shaking a little. Her dad gave her a smile, and Lian felt suddenly a lot better as she noticed, in the way his eyes crinkled with his smile, that he was proud of her.

“Okay, this is gonna sound disgusting, but bear with me.” He said, immediately switching into what Lian knew as teacher-mode. He was always teaching her something, and he always acted the exact same way. No matter if it was how to aim a bow, screw in a lightbulb, or sew up a wound. Apparently.

“I’m going to take the sides of the cut, up here, at the top.” He pointed to where he was talking about, just at the beginning of the wound. Which, Lian noticed, was starting to leak a little red again. “And I’m going to press it together. You’ll then hold that down, and keep it together whilst I get the needle and thread ready. I’ll make the first few stitches, and then we’ll go on to the next bit. Alright?”

“Alright.” Lian confirmed, feeling a little more secure now that she knew what she was doing. “I almost wanna ask how you know how to do this.” She said, as they worked quickly. Roy shrugged as he severed the thread with his teeth, and wiped a bit of the disinfectant along the thread.

“Personal experience, unfortunately.” He said, and Lian blinked as he pricked Red Robin’s skin for the first time. She quickly adverted her eyes, and stared at the wall as her dad pushed her fingers around so she didn’t accidentally get pricked. But she could still feel the extra spots of blood cropping up under her fingers, and occasionally the metal of the needle brushing against her fingers.

She swallowed. “Are you done yet?” she asked, not entirely sure what answer she was looking for. She’d really prefer for her dad to be _done_ already, but it still felt like he’d been _far_ too quick and she really didn’t want Red Robin walking around with a shittily done seam on the back of his neck –

“Yeah, yeah. Just–” she dared to look back at him, and saw that he was pulling back the needle, and it was stained red. Lian did gag that time, but luckily, her dad didn’t notice.

There was a sudden knock on the door. That’d be Dick.

“Dick, right?” he asked, glancing towards the door. Lian nodded, making the mistake of looking down at the half sewn-up wound. She looked back up and swallowed. This was… this was fine. She could totally handle this.

“It’s open!” Roy called. “Okay, Princess, move your hand down, keep a tight grip on the skin – okay, yes, that’s perfect.” he said, as the door opened and a very distressed and slightly dishevelled looking Dick came through.

Dick saw Red Robin, passed out on the floor, and inhaled sharply, breath wavering like he was about to cry. “Christ – what happened? Wait, why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

“Saving someone’s life.” Roy responded quickly.

“He passed out.” Lian supplied. “He said there were knives, and that he managed to get away because the Flash helped him.” She said, going back through her memory.

Dick exhaled heavily, and came to kneel next to Roy. “I – yeah, should’ve known. Course Wally would do that.” He said, voice strangely tight. Roy looked up from the stitches to give him a confused look.

“Did–?”

“Yeah, she figured it out. We can talk about that later – why’d he pass out?” Dick asked, hands already ghosting over pulse points and checking Red Robin’s sides.

Roy frowned, going back to the stitching, moving Lian’s hands down to keep the wound together as he worked. “I’m hoping it was from exhaustion and overexertion, and not blood loss.”

“He’s got a few more cuts on his sides, they don’t need to be stitches from what I can tell, but we should definitely bandage them.” Dick announced, pulling a roll of bandages out of the first-aid kit. “Pass me the antiseptic, I’ll get started.”

“Disinfectant.” Roy corrected, pulling the last set of stitches tight.

“It _says_ antiseptic – whatever, can you check his arm? Looks dislocated at _least_.” Dick said, unrolling the bandages.

It was a little jarring, seeing both her dad and Dick know so much about how to treat wounds and do it so casually and quickly, especially whilst Lian was trying not to gag at the feeling of Red Robin’s stitches beneath her hands.

“We’ll have to get him to the Manor soon – any idea if he’ll wake up?” Dick asked, pouring disinfectant over a wound on the vigilante’s side.

Her dad frowned, and shrugged. “No clue.” He reached over to Red Robin’s wrist, and tried to straighten his arm out. Lian looked away, biting on her lip to give herself something to focus on that wasn’t the mangled shape of his arm.

Red Robin suddenly jerked, and groaned lowly. “Oh _fuck_.” He mumbled, starting to shift.

Dick immediately rested his hand on his shoulder, and leant down to speak into Red Robin’s ear. “Hey, hey Timmy.”

Lian frowned. Tim? Red Robin was Tim? Sure, whatever, this couldn’t get any fucking weirder. She probably would’ve noticed sooner if she hadn’t been _slightly_ preoccupied. Dick seemingly remembered that Lian was there, and he looked up, and pressed his finger to his lips. _Don’t tell anyone_.

“Don’t move. Okay? It’ll hurt more if you move. You’re pretty roughed up, buddy.” Dick said softly.

Red Robin – _Tim_ – groaned again, and shifted, and that made him gasp. “Fuck, did I pass out?” he rasped out, voice hoarse, breathing heavily. Silently, Roy stood up, and started filling a glass of water. Lian realised that he was probably doing that for painkillers. She reached over to the first-aid kit, and rifled through it for a moment, before pulling out a box with a scratched off label, but had ‘ _painkillers_ ’ scrawled on in biro pen in Jason’s loopy handwriting.

“Yeah, you did. Where’re you hurting most?” Dick asked as Lian pulled out the blister pack of pills, and popped out two. He looked up, saw how many she was holding, and frowned. He held up four fingers.

Lian popped two more out, and he nodded as Tim breathed shallowly, and tried to say something.

“Uh – arm. Head. Neck kills.” He listed. “Ribs hurt. Feels like I’m bruised everywhere.” Dick winced as he continued. “I got stabbed, right? Body armour…” he took a second to breathe. “Kevlar’s wearing thin.”

“We’ll look into it.” Dick promised as Roy handed him the glass of water. “Lian, help me get him sat up.” He asked, slipping his hand under Tim’s chest. Lian nodded silently as Dick started to shift his brother, carefully avoiding his arm.

Lian stood up, handed her dad the pills she was holding, and the box, and looped Tim’s good arm around her shoulders, and pulled him up as gently as she could. Tim yelped, and looked up at her through the slightly lopsided mask.

“Lian?” he asked, like he only just remembered she was there.

“Hi, Tim.” She responded. Dick motioned for her to start positioning Tim so he would be sitting against the couch. Not on it, Jason didn’t need a bloody couch to come home to, and it would be a lot easier on Tim.

He was silent for a minute, before saying “Who’s Tim? I’m Red Robin.”

Dick sighed. “She knows, Timmy. And you’re injured, you don’t need to pretend.”

“Thank _fuck_.” He said, back finally hitting the couch. His head hung forwards a little, and he winced. He had to have accidentally pulled on his stitches. The back of Lian’s neck burned in sympathy. “I _cannot_ be asked to lie when it feels like I’ve been shot.”

“You haven’t, have you?” Roy asked wearily.

Tim shook his head. “Don’t remember getting shot, so hopefully no?”

Dick held his hand out, and Roy gave him the pills. He tapped Tim’s mouth, and Tim managed to glare at him through the mask.

“I’m _injured_ , not paralysed.” He said, taking the painkillers from Dick. “You fucking momma bird.” He said, before grabbing the glass from Dick and gulping down the pills.

“Uh huh.” Dick said, looking thoroughly unconvinced. “And you’re totally not gonna pass out again, right?”

Tim glared, and shook his head. Lian realised he was swaying a bit. “Nope. Not… not happening.” He insisted. Lian counted to four and a half before he keeled over again.

“Jesus fucking – I’ll call Alfred.”

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Dick had only gotten around to bandaging a few of Tim’s extra wounds, and the ones that were still open were still bloody. Helping to carry a bruised, bloody, and unconscious vigilante through an apartment building at ten o’clock in the morning wasn’t something Lian had planned, but she was willing to help.

She also didn’t expect to be sat next to said vigilante in the back of one of the Wayne family cars, keeping her hands on his side because all the jostling had caused one of his stab wounds to start bleeding heavily, and she was the only one close enough to consistently keep pressure on.

They must’ve all looked a sight once they were inside. Tim, still in costume, leaning on Roy and battered and bruised with his blood dripping on the foyer carpet, and Dick, Roy, and Lian covered in his dried blood. Lian with significantly more caked on her.

Her dad and Alfred moved on quickly, dragging Tim through the Manor. Dick said something about getting Jason, and then he was gone. And Lian was left in the hallway, feeling shaken and confused. She looked down, and saw that her hands were almost completely red. Her vision blurred, and when she wiped at her face, she was surprised to find tears. Why was she crying?

Oh yeah. Because she nearly had a dead guy on her hands, and his blood was still there. That… that was pretty stressful. And tears were a pretty natural reaction to stress. Even if it hadn’t quite sunken in yet.

Maybe she should sit down. But all the furniture was old and expensive and would probably cost millions to clean if she got blood on any of it…

She sat down right where she was, and leant against the wall. She probably shouldn’t be wiping at her face, she’d probably end up getting blood in her eyes, but she _hated_ crying, and now she was properly sobbing. Fuck.

Tim had nearly _died_. Or maybe he hadn’t. But he’d been fucking _kidnapped_ and hurt and Lian had had to keep his wounds together as her dad sewed them up and she’d had to lean her entire bodyweight on his ribs as he gasped in pain, slipping in and out of consciousness. That was fucking _scary_.

She drew her knees up to her chest, rested her forehead on them, and wrapped her arms around herself, and sobbed.

Tim had nearly _died_ , Dick had acted as if this was _normal_ , her dad could fix stupidly ridiculous wounds like that like it was _nothing_. And her hands were fucking _covered_ in blood. And it was getting on her jeans and her shirt and it was sticky on her face. And she hadn’t had the chance to braid her hair again, so it was all loose around her face, and there was probably blood in it. She just wanted it all to go away.

“Lian?” someone asked. And they sounded kinda shocked but also concerned and Lian didn’t really want to deal with that.

“Go away.” She responded thickly.

“Mm, no. Are you injured?” the person asked, and Lian looked up to see Damian standing above her. He knelt down, and rested on his knees next to her. “That’s a lot of blood.”  
  


“Don’t worry. It’s not mine.” She responded, smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Damian wasn’t smiling.

“It’s Timothy’s, correct?” he asked.

She nodded, and wiped at her face, cringing at the feel of the now tacky blood. “Is – is he gonna be okay?”

Damian nodded. “Yes. Although, he’ll be forbidden from going out for the next month, at the very least.”

“I helped stitch up his neck.” She said quietly. Damian said nothing, silently encouraging her to continue.

“I – I didn’t do any actual stitches.” Her voice was pretty much a whisper, but she’d only just stopped crying. And tears never lasted super long with her. “I just kind of… held it together.”

“From what I can tell, his neck was hardly what he was complaining about the most, so I’d say you did well.” He said. Damian wasn’t great at comforting, but that was okay. Because Lian wasn’t either. They could just muddle their way through it together.

“…Dried blood feels _so_ gross.” She said, smiling a little and sniffing. Damian nodded, finally smiling a little himself.

“It does.” He agreed, standing up and offering his hand out to her. “Come on, I’ll help you clean it off. It’s mostly dried by now, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Lian gratefully accepted his hand up, and sniffed again as they started walking to the nearest bathroom. “Should I be concerned about why you know that? Or is it more of everything else that’s going on?”

Damian shrugged, opening a door to reveal a bathroom. He immediately started twisting the faucet in the sink, and grabbing a towel from somewhere. “A bit of both. Richard texted me, and told me you now know of both Red Robin and the Flash’s identities?”

Lian nodded, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. “Yeah. I figured out Wally, Dick kind of accidentally helped me with that. And then Dick called Tim by his name when he first woke up because he was confused.”

Damian frowned, and ran a towel under the stream of water. “Maybe Richard shouldn’t be talking to you about vigilantes if he’s going to give everything away.” He suggested, and he walked over to Lian. He tapped her arm, and she lifted it. He began scrubbing at her arm for her. She watched absently as flakes of dried blood floated down to the tiled floor.

(“Why are you doing it for me?” “You’re still half in shock. This is me comforting you. Just shut up and let me do it.”)

Damian knew. Of course he knew. He was probably a vigilante as well. She wouldn’t be surprised if absolutely everyone she knew was a fucking vigilante at this point.

“You’re one too. Aren’t you?” she asked. Damian paused, and silently stood up and rinsed the towel under the water, before coming back.

He sighed, and gave her a small smile. “I’m Robin. Nice to meet you.”

Lian sniffed, and wiped her face again, which Damian tutted at. “Nice to meet you, Robin. Apparently, I’m Bullseye.” She said, remembering her codename from… Christ. Last night. It felt like it’d been days.

“Your father will probably not be too pleased with me when he learns that I told you.” He said, going back to scrubbing blood off of her arm. “You might as well know everyone at this stage – I see no point in hiding anything more from you.”  
  


Lian shrugged. “Well, it’s to keep me safe, right?” she reminded him. “I mean, I’m thirteen, I can hardly defend myself.”

“I was fighting off goons for fun by the time I was ten.” Damian said, scrubbing at a particularly stubborn spot of dried blood. “What’s your excuse?” he asked with a smirk. Lian realised he was being jokey.

She shrugged. “Paranoid dad?”

“Which one?” He asked, and Lian honestly couldn’t tell if he was joking anymore. “Todd would be all for you learning self-defence.”

Lian blinked. “Jason isn’t my dad, Dami.”

“Try telling _him_ that.” He rebutted, washing off the towel again. “He certainly considers himself as such, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.”

Lian paused, thinking about it. Now that she really payed attention to it… Jason really did act like he was her dad. Carrying her home when she was upset and exhausted, being the second person she tended to run to for comfort that wasn’t her _actual_ dad…

“Okay.” She relented. “He’s kind of my dad.”

“Close enough.” He said, moving onto her other arm. “Grab that towel, I’ve gotten the worst of it off.”

After a little while later, Lian’s arms were still stained slightly red, but the blood was gone.

“Thanks.” She said quietly, as Damian scrubbed at her face. He was a little harsh, but what was she expecting? From both Damian, and Robin. Still though, it was nice of him.

“Don’t cover your face in blood again.” He advised, frowning. “It’s a real bitch to get off.”

Lian nodded, smiling a little. “Okay, I’ll try my best. No promises, though.”

He smirked. “I don’t expect anything less. Do you feel any better?”

She nodded, standing up and stretching her arms. “Weirdly, that did make me feel better.” She paused, and looked down. “Thanks.”

Damian shrugged. “It’s not a problem. You haven’t had to deal with that before, your body’s natural reaction is to go into shock upon dealing with high levels of stress.”

“Can I see him?” Lian swallowed. “Tim, I mean. I want to see if he’s okay.”

Damian nodded, and lead her through the house, and to one of the living rooms, the one with a bust on a podium, and the grandfather clock. Lian watched on in confusion as Damian pulled back the head of the bust, revealing a button in the neck. He pressed down on it, and the grandfather clock swung open, revealing a staircase.

Lian blinked. “What the hell is down _there_? Some kind of… underground hospital?”

Damian gave her a flat look. “Take a guess. It’s not like you haven’t been down there before.”

Lian frowned. She’d been there before, it was underground, Tim was Red Robin and Red Robin worked with Batman…

“The Batcave is _under_ your house?!”

“We’ll make a detective out of you yet.” He commented dryly, but Lian didn’t miss the way the corner of his mouth turned upwards into a smirk. “Timothy is down here because we have better supplies in the Cave, and as good as I’m sure your stitches were, he needed urgent attention.” He explained as they began walking down the narrow passage. It was so steep that Lian had to press her hands to the walls to not topple into Damian if she stepped wrong.

“Cha did the stitches, not me. I’ve told you that.” Lian corrected, not even realising that she hadn’t called him dad until the sentence was over. She’d been doing that a lot more, lately. In her defence, it’d been a stressful week.

“You helped; you get part of the credit.” Damian stated, rather than argued. “Trust me, I have fought my siblings enough times on this. It’s an agreed rule.”

Lian snorted at the image of Damian and Tim arguing over who got the credit for bandaging a wound. “Do all vigilantes fight each other over that sort of thing?”

Damian was turned away from her, but she could imagine his expression. Somewhere in between incredible fondness that he’d deny, and total exasperation. “Probably not, but then again, not many vigilantes are the Bats.”

“I wonder how many I actually know.” It was a good thing that this staircase had decent lighting, if it hadn’t, Lian would’ve _definitely_ tripped and broken her neck already. “Vigilantes, that is. Oh, you think I know Batman? Probably don’t – but I bet I know a few others.”

Damian pushed open a door – wait, they were at the bottom of the stairs already? Bats, messing with her perception, that was going to be a constant, wasn’t it? – and lead her through to the Cave.

Yep, still just as giant as last time. And it still made her feel incredibly small. Even if they were standing on a raised platform, that had an elevator – oh, Dick had come down that the night that she’d snuck in – and technically were a lot higher, she still felt like an ant.

“How the hell did you get used to this?” she asked quietly. Damian shrugged, stepping into the elevator and gesturing for her to join him.

“Life got weirder, this seemed pretty normal in comparison.” He explained, pressing a button. The elevator beeped, and started going down, and it moved _quickly_. Lian absolutely did _not_ get a little thrown off and stumble, Damian’s laugh was completely random and unprecedented.

They were down on the Cave floor before Lian knew, and then Damian was dragging her off to the corner with all the medical equipment. Tim was sat in a hospital cot, propped up by a few pillows, his sides swaddled in bandages, and his shirt and mask off. He had a laptop in his lap, and was giving it a death glare as he typed.

“Tim?” Lian said tentatively. Tim jerked up from his laptop screen, saw her standing there, and smiled.

“Hey Li.” he said, looking back to his laptop screen. “How’re you doing? I’m sorry for – uh – bleeding on you.”

“It’s fine.” Lian responded, voice suddenly small. It – it was a bit weirder to see Tim almost completely okay after she had seen him at what seemed like near-death. “How’s your neck?”

“Hurts, but it’s gonna.” Tim said, shrugging, and then wincing. Damian scoffed from behind her, he must’ve walked off at some point.

“So… you’re Red Robin.” She said, sliding her hands into her jean pockets. What was she even meant to do with them, especially when he wasn’t even looking at her?

Tim smirked at the screen. “Yeah, that’s me. Apologies that we couldn’t tell you in a more… uh, relaxed way.” He said, his smirk morphing into more of a guilty smile, actually looking at her now.

“It’s fine.” She repeated. “I would’ve figured it out anyway.” She grinned. “Might’ve taken me a while, but I would’ve gotten it. I’ve figured out… two or three on my own. Dad, Wally, and Dick.”

Tim nodded. “I’m impressed. Granted – I’ll chalk it up to seeing us all the time, and not extensive detective work.” He grinned right back at her. “Some of us had to work a little harder to figure out certain identities.”

Lian blinked. “Did – wait, you figured out someone? Who?”

Tim waved his hand. “Questions for later. I really think you should save all the personal stuff, like how we started, for the inevitable ‘explanation of the whole hero scene’ conversation. Plus, I kinda need to get back to something.”

“Inev – what? I’m getting a full rundown on, like, everything?” she asked, feeling excitement rise in her. _Finally,_ a clear picture!

Tim winced, looking back to the screen. “Ow, word of advice, don’t wave your arm about when you’ve got stab wounds in your sides. And, well, yeah. If we can get your dad to agree, that is. Can hardly blame him for not wanting to tell you, I mean, this –” he gestured at the bandages wrapped around his sides. “this? Pretty regular sight for any of us. It’s dangerous, you know?”

She froze. Regular sight? Tim had nearly _died_. Or it at least _felt_ like he was going to. That was _scary_.

He must’ve seen something in her expression, as he sighed and pushed his laptop away. “I mean – today was bad. Real bad. I don’t always get kidnapped or need stitches. And…” he cut himself off, running a hand through his hair. “Fuck, Dick is better at this than me. What I _mean_ is that it’s not safe, in like ninety different ways. But we’re also professionals. We trained for this. We know what we’re doing.”

“You don’t sound confident.”

“That’s because I’m really not.” He joked, but there was a genuine sincerity behind it. “Never really had to give this talk before.”

Something on his laptop pinged, and he near-dived for it. He immediately started typing, so fast Lian was surprised he didn’t have to hit backspace a million times. His smile had fallen off his face, and Lian knew somewhere that she wasn’t watching Tim Drake-Wayne. She was watching Red Robin.

Then, his grin suddenly spread over his face. “Get Dick down here, he’s gonna love who’s about to show up.”

Lian got out her phone, thumb hovering, ready to tap in the passcode. She paused, and gave Tim a suspicious look. “Why? Who is it?”

There was a sudden gust of wind from behind her, that made her hair swirl around her face.

“Hey, dude, I could really–” a familiar voice said, and when Lian whipped around, she saw who it belonged to. The Flash, costume ripped and tattered, and a shock of ginger hair. Wally. He was pale, and had a purplish bruise snaking up his neck. He was swaying slightly, and looking at her, completely terrified.

He was giving her an incredulous look. “There – there’s a child. In the Batcave.”

Lian grinned. “Hi, Wally. Long time, no see!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> he's back!! and Lian is FINALLY going to get everything fully explained - tbh I'm excited for her and I'm the one writing it.
> 
> next chapter: a birdflash reunion ^_^
> 
> .
> 
> (chapter summary: Lian, Roy, and Dick tend to Red Robin's wounds, and bring him back to the manor. In all the chaos, Dick called Tim by name and his identity was revealed to Lian. Once actually at the Manor, Lian is left alone, and whilst processing that she'd gone through something quite intense, she has a slight breakdown. Damian finds her and helps her clean off the blood left on her arms to try and comfort her. he also reveals that he is Robin, as he believes there's no real point in hiding it from her anymore. Lian asks to see Tim, and as they talk, Wally shows up, pale, bruised, and a little weak, but alive.)


	11. And No One Even Knew,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY PRIDE MONTH HAVE NOT ONE BUT TWO COUPLES
> 
> featuring: THE BIRDFLASH REUNION GOD BLESS <3, a new couple that you probably saw in the tags but shhh its a surprise, Duke is here!!, and Lian FINALLY knows who's who.

Lian grinned. “Hi, Wally! Long time, no see!”

Wally blinked, and gave Tim an incredulous look. “She _knows_? When did this happen!?”  
  


“Uh…” Lian flushed, suddenly remembering _why_ Wally couldn’t have known, and guilt stirred in her gut. “A – a few hours ago? This morning?” she offered, and the guilt in her stomach rose as she realised Wally had a hand around his arm, which was bleeding sluggishly. He… he must be tired, or something. That’s why he wasn’t speed heeling. Right?

“I – I have _so_ many questions.” He admitted, and Lian realised suddenly that he was swaying. “Mainly, how the _fuck_ is your dad okay with this? But I think I’m gonna pass out. Hey Tim, is there a semi-soft surface I can do that on?”

Tim, who had been watching this all with an amused expression, suddenly jerked into action. “Right, yeah, there’s another cot over there, I’ll call Dick.”

Wally’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Dick, _Jesus_ I missed him.” He started taking a few shaky steps, before Lian saw he was about to fall over. She rushed forward, and slung his good arm around her shoulders.

“You look like you’re about to fall over.” Lian explained quietly, as Tim was already on the phone, and laughing a little.

Wally nodded as she helped him across the room. “Alright, fair enough. Has Dick been okay? I know it’s only been like a day or so but–”

“He was upset.” Lian explained. “He cried, but I think he was just stressed. He’s gonna be really happy to see you.” She muttered. Wally was heavy, especially as he was leaning on her.

“I gotta apologise to him for that.” he said quietly. “I hate him being upset.”

Lian blinked. “You were _kidnapped_. It’s not your fault.”

“Still.” Wally argued weakly. He made a soft noise of pain as he flopped onto the bed. “Jesus, ow.”

There was a loud crashing noise, and a yell of “Slow _down_ , Dick!” (from someone who might’ve been… Steph?) Before Lian watched a figure do a graceful flip over the upper platform’s railings, and land neatly on the metal floor. Before springing up, almost clumsy in enthusiasm, and running towards them.

Lian laughed as Dick’s eager face came into view, and she could almost _pinpoint_ the exact moment Dick spotted Wally. His eyes lit up, and became slightly shiny, and his grin went from just _big_ to _so big it was definitely hurting his face_.

“ _Walls!_ ” he said, all the joy and general sunshiny attitude he normally oozed flooding back into him at once. Lian had to half duck out the way as Dick near-flew at his fiancé.

“Dickie!” Wally said, an equally wide smile on his face. He, despite literally falling onto the cot, struggled to his feet, and opened his arms as Dick came barrelling into him.

“You noble _idiot_!” Dick said, holding Wally’s face in his hands. “We have a rule! Don’t go where I can’t follow!” he scolded, despite grinning so wide that tears were threatening to spill at the corners of his eyes.

Wally gave him a soft look as he wrapped his arms around Dick. “We’ve had worse, Rob.” Before leaning in and kissing him. Tim made an exaggerated gagging noise from behind them.

Rob, huh? Like Robin? Lian privately made note of that – another thing to add to her mental corkboard.

Dick pushed his fiancé’s face away. “Haven’t been Rob in a while.” He grinned suddenly. “KF.” He added.

“As touching as this is,” Tim said, causing everyone else to turn and look at him. “your fiancé is currently bleeding, and definitely hasn’t had enough food. And I’m kind of bedridden, so I can’t exactly assist.”

Dick jerked away – Lian noticed one of his hands had moved to rest on Wally’s waist, so they weren’t completely apart – and quickly found the bleeding cut on his arm. He tsked, and frowned at his fiancé. “Babe, when did you last _eat_?”

Lian shot Tim a confused look. He shrugged and said “Speedsters.”

Wally smiled guiltily. “Uh… not for a day or two? I didn’t exactly have the _chance_ to–”

“I’m getting you ice cream.” Dick said firmly. “I’ll raid the emergency supply, I’m sure Alfred won’t mind me stealing, and there’s Lucky Charms somewhere –”

“ _No_ , you eat enough of those at home.” Wally said quickly. “Do you mind if we just wait a bit? I haven’t seen you.”

Dick gave him a soft smile. “Of course, you dork.” And Lian could practically _see_ the heart emojis dancing around their heads.

“I can get it, if you want?” Lian offered. She kinda needed something to do, anyway. It was really nice to see Dick and Wally back together, but she’d just been standing awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do.

“You would? Lian, you little star.” Dick said warmly, hand curling into Wally’s.

“Sure. I need to find dad anyway.”

Wally blinked. “Okay, so she knows about me, you, Tim apparently, and her dad?” he gave Lian a slightly shocked look. “Just _how_ much does she know?”

Dick shrugged. “Identity wise? Nearly all of Gotham. Other details…” he waved his hand in the air, a similar gesture to what Tim did sometimes. Lian wondered if they’d picked it up from one another. “Well, we’re keeping it PG thirteen.” He explained, as Wally nodded and winced slightly.

“I’ll be fourteen soon.” Lian commented, already starting to walk away.

“Your dad was with Jason, by the way! Third floor, East wing, like eight rooms down from the library!” Dick called after her.

She held in a giggle as she climbed the stairs again, and heard Wally suddenly yell “She found the Cave by _accident_?!”

Getting ice cream was easy. She gave Wally his ice cream, which he started eating at an _alarming_ rate, before disappearing back into the kitchen. She got an extra carton from the fridge – praying that Alfred wouldn’t spot her – and three extra spoons. If Jason had gotten injured, she reckoned he’d be willing to split some ice cream with her and her dad.

It was Ben and Jerry’s Birthday Cake flavour, which was both her and Jason’s favourite. Her dad was a heathen that had _mint chocolate chip_ as his favourite flavour, and that just wouldn’t be acceptable.

Luckily, she’d stayed in a Wayne Manor guest bedroom a couple times before, and she knew her way to the library, so it didn’t take long to find the room where Jason was in. As her hands were full, she leaned down on the handle with her elbow, and pushed the door open with her back.

“I got ice cre…” she started, before cutting herself off. Her dad and Jason were staring at her with a scandalized expression, Jason sat upright in a bed, and her dad sat on the end of it, looking ready to jump away from Jason at the nearest opportunity. Lian could’ve _sworn_ she saw Jason’s hand in her dad’s hair… but maybe not.

“…I feel like I missed something here.”

“Nope!” Her dad said, voice too high. “Nothing! Didn’t miss anything! Oh, wow you have ice cream? That’s great!” he said too quickly, not looking at Jason, who looked a little guilty.

Lian frowned. “Uh… yeah. I got ice cream.” She sat next to her dad, and handed Jason one of the spoons, and he finally seemed to wake up a little and realise what was going on.

“Birthday Cake,” he noted, reading the label. Lian noticed the blush on his face that was quickly receding. “excellent choice.”

“Duh,” she said, cracking open the lid. “I’m not a _heathen,_ unlike some people in this room.”

“You say, as you’re about to eat ice cream out of the carton on a bed in Wayne Manor.” Her dad commented, leaning over to stab his own spoon into the ice cream. “And we’ve been over this – mint chocolate chip is a perfectly valid ice cream flavour.”

“It is _not_ , Roytoy.” Jason said, batting Roy’s spoon with his own. “Let me get some of that, at least I can _appreciate_ good food when I see it.”

Her dad frowned as Lian started digging her own spoon in. “Can you though? You said my mac and cheese tasted like garbage.”

“That was _three years ago_! And I was right, regardless.”

Lian listened to their bickering as she ate happily. It kind of reminded her of an old married couple, the way they fought whilst having an obvious undercurrent of fondness for each other. In a way, it also reminded her of Dick and Wally, something about the way they looked at each other.

Huh. 

“Hey, Jay, how’d you get hurt?” she asked, spooning another hunk of ice cream into her mouth.

Both Roy and Jason fell into silence. Lian realised that Jason pointedly wasn’t looking at her.

“Uh… I got,” he smiled guiltily, looking at her properly now. “I got shot.”

Lian blinked. Jason got _shot_?

“Where?” she asked, before she really processed what he’d just said. She suddenly grimaced, as she realised something. “Oh god, you had to dig the bullet out, didn’t you?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, unfortunately. Some thug got me in my thigh.”

“That’s probably because you wear jeans instead of body armour.” Roy said, not so subtly taking the ice cream from Lian’s lap.

“You show your tattoos, you can’t say _nothing_.” He argued back, far too cheerful for someone who had a bullet in their thigh last night.

Oh _god_. Jason had been _shot_. Someone had been trying to kill or hurt Red Hood. And why? Because he’d tried to save his little brother and a friend? Because he’d gotten _in the way_?

That – that was terrifying. Lian almost felt that fact solidify, and form into a cold, heavy stone that settled somewhere in her ribs.

Suddenly, the superhero world – not just the one she was seeing right in front of her, but all of it. Everything, from Superman to Martian Manhunter to Wonder Woman to Lian herself – looked a lot less glamorous. If this was normal, almost _commonplace_ , judging by the way they were reacting, then… fuck, what was enough to freak out over?

Lian couldn’t just… it didn’t feel right. To know that her friends and family were out there, were getting hurt and saving each other and their cities and homes all whilst staying faceless – it felt _wrong_.

“Uh, cha?” she said softly. Roy snapped to attention immediately.

“Yeah, Princess?”

“I wanna know.” She said, and her voice felt too loud in the suddenly quiet room.

A bird chirped loudly outside. From somewhere in the Manor, one of the dogs barked.

“Everything.” She added. “I – I wanna know. I gotta know. It’s – it’s not right. For everyone to go and save the world and get _shot_ ,” she caught Jason wincing, out the corner of her eye. “and for me to just not even know who’s _who_.”

She looked up from her hands at her dad. “I gotta know. Everything.”

Roy looked… a lot of different things. Shocked, mainly, a little afraid. But Lian caught that very familiar spark of pride. He was proud of her. He always was, but it was clear as day as the shock melted away.

“Well, that’s convenient.” A different voice said from the doorway. Everyone’s heads turned to see Duke Thomas – once again, someone she hadn’t seen in a while, and also probably another superhero – leaning against the doorframe.

He grinned. “I was just coming to say, we got mostly everyone in the dining room, y’know, to explain everything. Only person missing is Babs.” His face fell slightly. “She’s getting it all explained, right? Please tell me I totally didn’t just misread the room.”

“…No, she’s getting it all explained.” Her dad confirmed. “Just, like, identities though. Right?”

“Take it up with Bruce, I’m just here to get you and Jay.” He explained. “Speaking of which, you think you can walk yet?” he said, clearly talking to Jason.

Jason shrugged. “Slowly. Lian, go on ahead. Roy, you can go with–”

“I’m helping you, Jaybird.” Her dad said quickly, passing the ice cream back to Lian. “You are _not_ walking down all those stairs with a bullet hole in your leg.”

“…it’s been stitched up.”

“Bullet. In your _leg_. I’m helping you.”

Lian smiled at their good-natured arguing as she followed Duke into the hallway, digging her spoon back into the ice cream. She was taking it with her, and if Bruce or some other hero – oh dear god, she was gonna meet so many heroes! – wasn’t happy with it, they could suck it.

“Are you a superhero too?” she asked Duke, mouth half full of birthday cake flavoured goodness. He snorted, and nodded.

“Yeah, I guess. Superhero is a strong word for it.” he said, smiling. Lian liked Duke a lot, he was just really nice and smiley, without being as overbearing as Dick was sometimes. It was honestly a shame she didn’t see him more, but he was busy in his final year of university – and being a hero, apparently – and Lian was thirteen, so, spending time with her was hardly a priority.

Duke pushed open the door to the dining room, and Lian had to pause. Because, surrounding the massive table, were nearly every single one of the Waynes, and then some. Bruce, Alfred, and Dick were all talking, Wally sat next to Dick, and eating his second carton of ice cream – he really _hadn’t_ eaten, then – and looking thankfully free of bruises and injury. Thank god for speed healing. Tim was halfway through being manoeuvred into a chair by Steph and Cass, who were carefully avoiding all his bandages, and Damian was sat on the edge, petting his dog, Titus’s, head. Lian could faintly hear Jason and her dad from somewhere behind her and Duke.

This… was a _lot_ of people. And they all looked up at her expectantly when Duke cleared his throat.

“So, she’s here.” He said cheerfully, walking into the room and taking the empty seat next to Damian, pausing to scratch behind Titus’s ears. “Jason and Roy are on their way down.”

“Thank you, Duke.” Bruce said, looking a little uncomfortable. Lian wondered which mask he wore. Did he even wear a mask? Or was he just some behind the scenes sort of guy? Lian _liked_ Bruce, but, well, he was kind of a loser. In a nice way. He wore sweater vests, is what she was getting at.

Lian felt a little exposed. They were all _looking_ at her, and whilst there were loads of empty seats, she didn’t exactly feel like she could just pick one and go.

“Right, okay, whole family is here!” her dad’s voice suddenly announced, walking straight past Lian to help Jason into a seat. He took one a seat away from Jason, and then beckoned her over. Lian gratefully rushed over to her dad, and sat in between him and Jason.

“So, Lian.” Dick began. “You kinda found out about,” he waved his hand in the air, the gesture for ‘the general everything that’s going on right now’. “all of this, a lot earlier than your dad had planned.”

“I was going to wait until you were eighteen.” He said, shrugging. “Should’ve realised you weren’t having that.”

Lian was just glad she still had her ice cream. Wally gave her an approving look as she nodded around a new mouthful. She swallowed, and said “I mean, I found out by accident. You’re not really all that subtle when I _live_ with you.”  
  


Steph snorted, and then fell into silence as she was elbowed by a grinning Cass.

“Lian.” Bruce said, and he had this very funny thing where if he wanted your attention, he had to do very little to get it. “Everyone currently in this room, is a vigilante. Or works with vigilantes, in Alfred’s case.”

Lian kind of already knew that. But, still, _wow_. She looked around at the faces she knew so well, the faces of her _family_. Everyone here, at some point, had been sat down by an older superhero or two, and had this whole world revealed to them. Just like she was doing now.

“And let me guess,” she said, trying to keep the mood light. “ _You’re_ Batman?”

There was a short silence, where Bruce looked somewhere in between very tired and _extremely_ tired, but it was quickly broken by Tim snorting in laughter.

“Oh my _god_ , she’s following in my footsteps! I’m so proud!” he managed to get out through laughter. Jason glared half-heartedly at his brother.

“Steph, would you be a dear and slap my brother for me, as he is on the other side of the table, and I have been injured? From trying to save his ass in the first place?” Jason asked, disturbingly politely. “If she’s taking after anyone, it’ll be me, thank you very much.”

Steph eagerly raised her hand, before Bruce said “No, Steph, I’d appreciate if you didn’t slap Tim.” And she reluctantly lowered her hand.

“I’m _literally_ her dad.” Roy said, frowning. “I’d assume she’d take after me.”

Lian blinked. She was quickly learning that joking about someone being a superhero, apparently meant, that they most likely were.

“Alright, settle down.” Alfred said calmly, and Lian had to thank the near supernatural control Alfred had on the Wayne family. “Let Master Bruce finish.”  
  


Lian scooped another mouthful of ice cream into her mouth as Bruce sighed heavily at his chaotic menagerie of children. “Yes, Lian, I am Batman.”

Lian blinked. Bruce was Batman. That – well, Lian almost expected Alfred more than Bruce. But… well, she’d been wrong before. Like the whole mafia theory.

“I – _really_?” she said, grin pulling at her face. “I could’ve sworn Batman worked alone. And, well…” she gestured at everyone. This time, Wally burst into laughter, and Dick was clearly holding back his own.

“ _Sorry,_ sorry, just – _your_ _face_.” Wally managed to get out through giggles. “Sorry, I have seen that brought up _so_ many times, you wouldn’t believe!”

“Calm down, West.” Damian called from the other end of the table, which only caused Wally to laugh harder. He clamped his hands over his mouth, and tried not to laugh. Unfortunately, Wally West had a very contagious laugh, and Lian was trying her best not to giggle along with him.

“Is it bad that I’m proud? Like, genuinely proud?” Jason asked, hand going to ruffle her hair. Lian was privately glad she’d left her hair loose; he couldn’t mess up her usual careful braid.

“Okay, okay, who’s everyone else? I know Jay, dad, Dick, Wally. Oh, and Tim and Damian.” Lian said, twirling the spoon in her hands. Steph frowned.

“Oh, so we were telling her individually? Why did no one have the courtesy to inform me?” she asked sarcastically, voice hyper-scandalized.

“Nice use of courtesy.” Jason added. He was such a nerd sometimes, damn. Him and his fancy words.

“We… didn’t plan on it?” Tim offered. “And if it makes you feel better, like sixty-four percent of the identities she figured out before this were Dick’s fault.”

“Hey!” Dick said. “I only gave away you and Walls!” he argued, but there was no real bite behind it.  
  


“Yourself.” Jason pointed out.

“ _How was that my–_ ” he began, but he was quickly cut off by Steph.

“I’m Batgirl.” She offered. “Third, and second-best edition.” She said, grinning pointedly at Cass, who blushed slightly and smiled softly.

“No. You’re the best Batgirl.” Cass said quietly, which made both Duke and Dick set off with a chorus of ‘aww’s.

“Aww, I want a friendship like that.” Jason joked, reaching over to poke at Roy’s shoulder. “Why can’t we be like that?”

“Girlfriends.” Cass corrected softly. There was a beat of silence, before Steph laughed awkwardly. Wait, Steph and Cass were dating? Lian felt a weird burst of pride in her chest. Sure, she’d grown up around queer couples, but she was so used to Dick and Wally that the two of them both being men hardly meant anything. And – well, Steph and Cass were _girls_. _Lian_ liked girls. It – it was nice.

“Uh – yeah – that – we’re dating!” Steph said, looking down at the table. “Surprise?”

“Stephanie?” Bruce said, suspiciously calmly. Steph gulped.

“ _Oooh_ , full names, someone’s in trouble!” Jason whispered gleefully. Lian dug her spoon back into the ice cream. This was taking a surprisingly dramatic turn. Lian felt like she was watching a soap opera, or a reality show.

“Uh, yeah, B?”

“We will be having words. Later.”

Damian barked out a laugh, and was quickly elbowed by Duke, who was smiling widely, clearly enjoying this as much as Lian was.

“Cass goes by Black Bat.” Roy supplied helpfully, quickly steering the conversation away from the probably hellish experience of a Batman shovel talk. Lian could only pity Steph. “At least, that was it last time I checked.”

“Yes, Black Bat.” Cass confirmed. “Duke is Signal.”

Lian remembered something vaguely, something about Signal that she’d read and had stored away somewhere in her mind. “Nice. Anyone else?”

“Babs, you know, Barbara.” Tim said quickly. “She’s Oracle. She mainly runs the comm links and keeps us communicating.”

“Not that she isn’t a force to be reckoned with outside of all that tech.” Wally added. When he got a look from a few others, he shrugged. “What? I gotta defend the honour of a fellow redhead.”  
  


“You know what? I’m with Wally on this one.” Her dad added. “We redheads gotta stick together.”

Wally nodded sagely. “Amen.”  
  


Dick blinked. “I… right, okay, so Steph and Cass just came out, I feel like we’re going to be betrayed by all local redheads, and we covered… everyone?”

“Just about.” Bruce said. “Alfred assists with mostly medical things and supplies.” He explained. “He’s… we’d all be quite dead by now, if it weren’t for him.”

“Thank you, Master Bruce.” Alfred said politely, although Lian caught a smile twitching the corner of his mouth.

“Okay.” She said quietly. “So. Let me get this straight. Dad is Arsenal.”

“Yep.” The vigilante in question confirmed.

“Jason is Red Hood. Dick is Nightwing,” she continued, using her fingers as checkmarks, even though she wasn’t counting. “Wally is the Flash, Steph is Batgirl, Cass is Black Bat.” She looked up to double check, and continued once she’d seen everyone nodding. “Tim is Red Robin, Damian is Robin, Duke is Signal, Babs is Oracle.”

She paused, and looked to Bruce. “And you’re the Bat himself.”

“Think that’s everyone.” Steph confirmed. “Anyone she knows that she missed?”  
  


Damian shrugged. “Jon, maybe? Does she know Diana in any way?”

Roy suddenly smacked his palm to his forehead. “ _Shit_ , Dinah and Oliver.” he groaned. “Great, _that’s_ gonna be a fun conversation.” He said, voice already tinged with misery. Lian knew that her dad and grandpa Ollie had a strained relationship at best, and she knew why, and that was also why she didn’t have the highest opinion of the guy. He’d… well, Lian hadn’t been there. But she wasn’t happy about what had happened, regardless.

“Think we can leave that for another day?” Jason suggested softly. Dick smirked, but as soon as Lian noticed it, Jason did too, and glared at him. Dick looked away, smiling, not saying anything.

Lian felt… well, overloaded was a little too extreme, but… overwhelmed wasn’t quite right either. She was kind of, like, whelmed. Just boarding over into overwhelmed. There was just a _lot_ of information to process.

“Can I – can I just…?” she asked, eyes skirting towards the door. Her dad noticed, and tapped her on the back.

“You go off and decompress, we need to talk about some stuff.” He said easily. Lian nodded, taking the ice cream with her. It was nearly completely melted, and making her feel a little sick, but she was stressed and committed. So, she was _finishing_ it.

She wandered into the main entrance, hearing familiar voices argue over something good-naturedly. So. That was it. Lian knew the identities of… pretty much everyone. She climbed the staircase, and sat right in the middle, getting a weirdly smug feeling. It was the general feeling of sitting somewhere that was not designed for sitting, which was a such a specific emotion, she couldn’t exactly describe it another way.

She settled her back against the banister on the left side, and stretched her legs out across the massive expanse of stair. She looked up at the large portrait of Bruce’s parents as she swirled her ice cream, which was really just more liquid than anything else right now.

“Your kid is weird.” She told Thomas and Martha Wayne. “Your grandkids are even weirder. I guess I count as an honorary great grandkid. Hell, I’m the weirdest out of all of them, in a way.”

Lian grinned to herself. “I mean, I was raised by superheroes. Doesn’t get much weirder than that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the queers are here ladies, gents and all those who are a bit more interesting! I'm glad I got this chapter up in time for pride month, even if there's less than an hour left on the first day lmao. It's kinda late and you can tell by the shitty editing
> 
> anyway, I kinda just wanted to say that this chapter is sort of the end of... part one, I guess? The fic is still continuing, don't worry, but this is the cut off between Before and After, if that makes sense
> 
> also Lian and ice cream, wow, a perfect duo. my otp
> 
> Next chapter: Lian learns more about the Robins, and has an idea that Roy won't be happy about


	12. It Was Really Only You.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we are BACK baby! Sorry this chapter took me so long, my brain was just not having it
> 
> Featuring: Lian is basically Damian's little sister we stan, some Soft Family Moments, JON IS BACK YAYYY, and ooooooh boy THAT'S gonna have consequences.

Lian put the now empty ice cream carton on the stair next to her, feeling a little sick. Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have eaten all of that in one go, but it had been a _long_ day. She was tired, and through all the chaos, she’d missed lunch, and it was nearing four o’clock in the afternoon. She reckoned she was allowed some ice cream. Besides, thanks to her dad and Jason, it’d been half empty by the time she’d been left alone with it.

Honestly, Lian thought to herself, she should just eat ice cream to cope. With recent developments, she’d be eating a _lot_ of it. And wasn’t that just the dream?

She looked up again at the painting of Thomas and Martha Wayne. They looked pretty kind in the portrait, but from Lian’s slumped down angle, they seemed to be giving her a judging stare. She stuck her tongue out at them in retaliation. Honorary great grandparents or no, they had no right to judge her.

“Have my grandparents offended you?” Damian’s voice asked sarcastically from behind. Lian pushed herself upright, and turned her head to look at him.

“Maybe. They’re judging me for eating all that ice cream, I can tell.” Lian explained, shrugging.

Damian eyed the empty ice cream carton, and then looked back to Lian, raising an eyebrow. “Well, I can’t say I blame them.”

Lian mock-gasped. “All these years of friendship, and you betray me? Where is your sense of _loyalty_ , Damian?”

“With my father and Titus.” Damian commented flatly, climbing the stairs to sit next to her. “And Richard, on a good day. So, how are you taking the news?”

“The whole vigilante thing?” Lian asked, pulling one of her knees up to her chest, and fiddling with the cuff of her jeans. “Fine, I guess? I mean, it’s pretty weird. But it also explains a _lot_. Like how I’m never able to sneak up you. That’s a Robin thing, right?”

Damian shrugged. “Sure. Although, Jason and Stephanie are incredible easy for me to startle, so perhaps not.”

Lian blinked. Jason and Steph had been _Robin_? Maybe there was more to that whole Robin timeline thing after all.

“How many Robins have there been?” she asked. She wasn’t really sure what answer she was expecting. Maybe three?

“Five. I’m the fifth.” Damian said. Ah. Close enough?

Lian was silent for a moment, not really knowing what to say. Sure, she had questions. A lot. But… it was just a lot. It was just a lot to remember and a lot to know and, honestly, overall, it was just a _lot_ and Lian kind of felt overwhelmed.

Damian must’ve noticed something in her expression, because he asked “Are you _sure_ you’re handling it okay?”

Lian shrugged. “Well, it’s being handled, you know?” she leant back, and rested her head against the banister. “It’s… stressful, but I’m fine.”

“Mm, Richard said the same thing when West and Timothy disappeared. And if you haven’t noticed, he’s not let himself be away from at least one of them.” Damian said, copying her leaned back position. “If you need a break, that’s okay.”

“You sound _exactly_ like Dick.” Lian commented, smiling a little. Damian frowned, and looked vaguely disgusted. He always did that whenever he was told he was acting sappy. The sap.

“It’s what he always tells me.” He said nonchalantly. “I’m not exactly well known for taking breaks, so he’s always reminding me.”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised.”

“I’m constantly reminded to take a moment to ‘de-stress’, if anything, that’s more stressful.”

“So, what do you do when you _actually_ relax?”

Damian grinned.

* * *

“You punch it.” Damian said, holding the punching bag still, and giving Lian a deadpan look. “It’s really not that hard.”  
  


Lian shot him a glare. “I _know_ that. But isn’t there meant to be a specific way to do it?”

They were in the Batcave, in a training area that had everything from swords on the walls to a rock-climbing wall in one corner. Apparently, Damian’s way of de-stressing, was beating the living shit out of punching bags and training dummies. Lian had jumped when he landed the first punch on the punching bag he was currently holding, and she was suddenly very aware of how strong Damian probably was, even if he didn’t look it.

Damian blinked. “A specific way to – you _punch_ it.”

Lian sighed, and raised her fists. Damian frowned, but said nothing, and held the bag still for her. She drew back her fist, and punched.

She felt and heard her thumb click, and winced. She shook out her wrist, and gave Damian a flat look. “You hear that? I’m pretty sure my thumb isn’t meant to make sound.”

Damian poked his head around the punching bag, and frowned, “You… you don’t even know how to make a fist properly.” He said, smiling a little confusedly, as if he straight-up couldn’t believe it. Oh, of _course_ there was a proper way to make a fist. Of course!

“You put your thumb over your fingers, see?” he made a first, and twisted his wrist so Lian could see his palm and fingers. His thumb was, indeed, over his fingers, instead of tucked in. “If you punch like this – you’ll break your thumb. Trust me.” He said, opening his hand again and flexing his fingers. He probably dealt with a _lot_ of broken bones, if Lian thought about it.

Lian made a fist, and this time made an explicit show of folding her thumb over her fingers, which Damian rolled his eyes at. He went behind the punching bag again, and held it still once more. She settled into a comfortable position, held up her fists, and punched as hard as she could.

This time, Damian nodded approvingly. “You’ve got some decent strength in your arms – I’m assuming that’s from archery?”

Lian nodded. “Gotta be. I don’t really do any other sports.” She threw a second punch, this time with her other hand. She did have to admit – it was pretty satisfying, hearing the smack of skin on leather. And the rush she got was good, too.

“Try a one-two.” Damian suggested. “That’s always fun.”

She tried it, left hand, right hand, one immediately right after the other. Damian was right, as usual, it _was_ fun.

“You gonna teach me any more about fighting, or am I gonna become a master of punching first?” she joked, landing a punch dangerously close to where Damian’s hand was resting.

Damian raised an eyebrow. “I’m not teaching you how to fight, I’m teaching you healthy ways to release stress and frustration.”

“Sure.” Lian said, shrugging. “Bet it’s ‘cause you don’t know how to do anything else than punch and use swords.” Lian _knew_ that Damian was infinitely more skilled than her, but she also knew that he couldn’t turn down a challenge.

“Alright, you wanna know something important in a fight?” he said, and Lian knew she’d won. Damian was just too predictable, sometimes. “Your head is your anchor. No matter where your body is going, if your head is going someplace else, your body will follow.” He explained.

He reached out, and poked the side of Lian’s head, pushing it to the right. To her annoyance, as he pushed her head, her left foot instinctively came up off the ground to help keep her balance.

“See?” Damian said, gesturing to her foot. “Balance is your best friend in a fight. You end up on the ground, you need to get back up, if you’re not dead already.”

Lian pushed his hand off of her head. “Okay, okay, so what you’re saying is, go for the head?” she asked, a bad idea already forming in her head.

Damian shrugged. “I’m not saying that you _shouldn’t_ –” he began, but he was quickly cut off by Lian making a quick jab at his head, which he dodged effortlessly.

“Oh, you wanna do it like that, then?” he said, grinning. He suddenly dropped to the floor, and his leg came swinging into the back of Lian’s knees, making them buckle instinctively. She landed heavily on her front, the soft training mats knocking all the air out of her.

“ _Rude_.” she sniped. She rolled to the side, got to her feet, glaring at Damian, who was already stood up again, and raised her fists, grinning all the while. This was just a game, but regardless, she was gonna _win_. “Come on, fight me properly.”

“If I fought you properly, you’d have five broken bones, and I’d be found dead, mysteriously, the next day with eighteen arrows sticking out of my back.” Damian commented flatly.

Lian shrugged. “Okay, fair. At least do _something_.” She offered, tempted to try to punch him again.

Damian dropped again, and Lian knew what was coming this time. She jumped as Damian’s leg came around again, but it wasn’t high enough, as he caught her ankles, and sent her sprawling to the floor.

“Oh, _fuck_ you.” Lian spat, with no real venom, as Damian laughed. She’d landed on her back, and was now staring up at the Batcave ceiling.

…Were those _actual_ bats, up there?

“And that’s a full dollar for the swear jar.” A familiar voice said, and when Lian craned her head, she saw her dad stood at the entrance to the training area, smiling, but it looked a little strained. “What’s going on here?”

“Damian won’t teach me how to fight properly.” Lian explained, pushing herself up on her elbows. “Because he’s mean.”

Damian scoffed, getting to his feet. “I could be a _lot_ worse, thank you very much.”

“Huh.” Her dad said, and there was definitely something unimpressed in his expression. “Damian, could I talk to you for a sec? Oh, Lian sweetie, we’re getting ready to take Jay home. Okay?”

Lian nodded and got to her feet as Damian followed her dad away somewhere. She shook out her arms and legs, like she did before archery practice. Despite Damian technically kicking her ass, she had fun. It was weird, but she really _liked_ fighting. Now, if only she could convince someone to teach her properly…

* * *

Lian frowned at her math homework. “It really just doesn’t _make sense_.” She insisted, looking up at Jason. He raised an eyebrow at her. She had her homework on the coffee table, the one above the secret floorboard, and was kneeling on the floor in front of Jason, who was lying down on the couch.

“That’s because you haven’t gotten it yet. Algebra is surprisingly easy, okay?” he said, shifting a little. It’d been a bit of a nightmare to get Jason back to his apartment, because the elevator was broken, and Jason could barely walk on his injured leg, which had led to Roy and Lian half carrying him, and a lot of weird looks from nosey neighbours. Luckily, this was Gotham, and no one asked questions.

Rock music floated faintly through the apartment as Lian tried to burn a hole in her paper with her eyes. Her dad was in Jason’s room, clearing up his arrows from last night, and in general tidying up the place. He’d been insistent that Jason not do _anything_ too strenuous, and had nearly tied him down to the couch to get him to rest. Which meant he’d offered to help Lian actually get through her homework.

“I don’t see how. This,” Lian argued, gesturing at the brackets in the equation, “is about as understandable as Russian.”

“Russian isn’t _that_ hard.” Jason countered, before pausing. “Well, it is my weakest – wait, we’re meant to be talking about _math_.” He pretended to scowl at her as she repressed a grin. “Sneaky little–”

There was a sudden loud screaming noise, as one of the songs on Roy’s playlist began, and Lian jumped. Jason snorted as she sent a glare over to the open door of Jason’s room. The song was quickly cut off, with a shout of “Sorry!” from the bedroom, as a softer one started.

“The rock music is your fault. I swear it is.” Lian commented, turning back to the dreaded equations. Whose idea was it to put _letters_ in _math_ anyway? She scribbled in an answer, and moved on to the next one.

Jason shrugged, and looked down at her answer. “That’s meant to be thirteen x, by the way. And actually, it’s not. Your dad never tell you he was in a band?”

Lian paused, and looked up at Jason again. “You’re not serious.”

He grinned, handing her an eraser. “Oh, I’m dead serious. He was the drummer and everything.”

“Holy shit.” Lian said, grin pulling at the corner of her mouth. “Was this when he was a teenager?”

“Oh yeah, think he might’ve been seventeen? The band was called Great Frog–”

“And a young mister Todd thought I was the equivalent to a goddamn rock star.” Roy’s voice commented, sticking his head out of Jason’s room. He sounded unimpressed, but he was grinning. “I _can_ hear you; you know.”

“Hey!” Jason protested. “Just because I’m spilling all your embarrassing secrets doesn’t mean you need to do the same!”

Her dad tilted his head slightly, as if he were deep in thought. “Hmm, I suppose you’re right. Although…” he grinned, and Jason swore.

“Harper, I swear to god –”

“He cried the first time he read Romeo and Juliet because it was, and I quote, ‘just so tragically beautiful’.” He said, rock music suspiciously going up in volume after he ducked his head back into the door, Jason started saying something very colourful sounding in a language that was definitely not English.

Lian shrugged, looking at her math homework, and erasing the incorrect answer. “Hey, it’s not that embarrassing. What’s _more_ embarrassing is that you thought dad was cool.”

Jason snorted again, but looked off at the now closed bedroom door, a soft look in his eyes. “Well, to be honest, I still think he’s pretty cool.”

Lian rolled her eyes. “Sure, sure. He’s real cool when he’s eating cereal at five in the afternoon, crying over a drama he can’t even understand properly because it’s in Spanish.”

Jason smiled. “Yep. Coolest guy ever.” Before he leaned over, and frowned at her work. “That’s meant to be four y, you really don’t get it, huh?”

Lian flicked an eraser shaving at him. “I did _say_.”

“Look, it’s easy. You take the number, so x, on the outside of the brackets, and you multiply all the numbers _inside_ the brackets by x…”

* * *

The next day, Lian found herself at Wayne Manor once again. Jason had been asleep on and off all morning – apparently that was normal for when one was seriously injured – and her dad needed to pick up some stuff from the Manor anyway, so she asked if she could see Damian for the day. Roy had texted Bruce, gotten the all-clear, and now Lian was making her way down to the Batcave.

It was exhilarating, being able to ask Alfred politely for wherever Damian was, and being able to be told that he was in the _goddamn Batcave_ and it was fine for her to just _go down_ and see him. She couldn’t help but grin as she pushed open the grandfather clock in the living room, and bound down the stairs.

She heard sounds coming from the training area, and immediately raced over, only just hearing a surprised, “Oh! Hi Lian!” from Tim, who was over by the computer.

She ran into the training area, and paused. Damian wasn’t alone, and _holy shit_. He was fighting with someone else, and it might’ve been the _coolest_ thing Lian had ever seen. _Ever_.

Damian was half swinging from – was that Jon? – whoever he was fighting with’s arm, and as Lian watched in awe, he gracefully swung onto his sparring partner’s back, like he was _flying_ , landing on his knees and sending them sprawling to the ground, and pulling back the arm he’d just used for all his momentum so it was stretched at angle that looked uncomfortable at best and painful as hell at worst.

“I win again.” Damian announced, proudly, but Lian noticed his partner’s leg sneaking out, and quicker than she could register, Damian was being held above Jon’s – yeah, that was Jon, no one else it could’ve been – head, Jon holding up like he weighed nothing.

“You sure about that?” Jon asked, grinning, as Damian kicked out his legs and desperately tried to wiggle out of Jon’s hold.

“How did you _do_ that?” Lian asked, her voice sounding weirdly loud. She wasn’t entirely sure if she meant how had Damian flipped like that, or how had Jon picked Damian up like he was a ragdoll. Damian _had_ mentioned Jon was strong, but that _couldn’t_ be natural, right?

“Lian?” Jon said, dropping Damian in surprise. The back of Damian’s shoulders crashed into Jon’s, but instead of either of them yelling, Damian simply – _simply_ , for literally only him and probably Dick. No, _definitely_ Dick – swung his legs over his own head and landed on his feet next to his friend. Jon barely reacted to it, and stayed staring at Lian.

“She – she’s in–”

“The Batcave, yes, keep _up_ , Jon.”

Lian blinked. “How did you _do_ that?” she repeated. She knew Jon used to live on a farm – Damian had mentioned it once, whilst complaining about morning people – and that made people strong, but _seriously_!? He was all lanky and skinny! And Damian couldn’t be _that_ light; he was an eighteen-year-old that had been training as a vigilante for _god_ knows how long, _plus_ he did all that sword work.

“ _Dami_.” Jon hissed. “What am I meant to say?!”

“He’s Superboy.” Damian commented flatly, stretching one of his arms out as Jon made an interesting spluttering noise.

Lian’s jaw might’ve dropped. Just a little bit.

Okay. Here was the _thing_. Batman and Robin and Nightwing and Red Hood and everyone else she apparently knew – they were _legendary_ , but they were _human_. They didn’t have powers – well, except for Duke – and even heroes that _did_ have powers, like Wally, well, they made _sense_ in a way. The Flash went fast, that was easy enough to understand.

Superman, though? And all the other Supers Lian had heard about? She had a hard time even believing they even existed. And Damian was standing there, telling her that Jon, the dorky sixteen-year-old he was best friends with, was _one of them_?

“Very funny.” Lian commented quietly, half hoping the straws she was grasping at were actually there. “Okay, really, how did he do that?”

Jon looked at her, smiling guiltily, before slowly starting to rise off of the ground, until his feet were somewhere around Damian’s head.

Lian swallowed. Okay. This was happening. This was _happening_.

“You can _fly_?” Lian asked, and her voice sounded horribly strangled. Jon nodded, smiling and shrugging guiltily.

“Uh, yeah? And I have super strength – that’s how I managed to pick Damian up so easily.” He explained, crossing his ankles and somehow managing to look awkward whilst he was bobbing in mid-air. She was dreaming, right? This wasn’t actually happening?

No. She never knew she was dreaming, hell, she barely dreamt at all. This was actually happening. Holy shit.

“Oh… my god.”

“It’s less impressive if you remember how long it took for him to get there.” Damian commented, flicking at Jon’s feet.

“Hey! I was _ten_.” Jon protested. “And can you _not_ , you’ve got cold hands!”

Damian, in response, grabbed Jon’s foot fully, making his friend shriek. Lian stared at the two of them mucking around, as if Damian didn’t know his best friend was the equivalent to a god. What kinda _fuckery –_

“Can you show me how you did that?” she asked quietly, not really sure what to do with her hands. She settled on shoving them in her pockets and hooking her thumbs around the outside.

“What, picking Damian up?” Jon asked, leaning down to grab Damian’s arm.

“Kent, don’t you _da–_ ” Damian began, but he was quickly cut off by Jon swooping down and scooping him up into his arms, holding him bridal style.

“Your friend, milady.” Jon said, in an overly regal voice, bowing, and holding out his arms, presenting Damian to Lian. Lian grinned, and held back laughter, as Damian clambered out of Jon’s hold.

“Thank you for this gift, kind sir.” Lian responded, also donning the stupid voice, and curtseying.

“Excellent.” Damian commented, making that tutting noise, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “There’s _two_ of you.”

“Terribly sorry, my liege.” Jon said, bowing in mid-air, which was a bit of a weird position.

Damian rolled his eyes. “As you can see, he may be able to fly and punch through a wall, but unfortunately, his powerset does not include _comedic talent_.”

“And you’re a master?” Jon snapped back playfully. Lian watched the two of them amusedly. She should’ve brought popcorn.

“At least I don’t consider the _clone_ the height of comedy.”

“Kon _is_ funny! And Dick’s even _worse_ for puns, if we’re coming after each other’s brothers!” Lian didn’t know who ‘the clone’ or ‘Kon’ was, she was assuming they were the same person, but whoever he was, if he matched Dick in puns… oh lord.

It was surreal, watching Jon and Damian bicker good-naturedly, whilst Jon was _floating_ like it was nothing.

Jesus _Christ_ , how was this even her _life_?

After a while, Damian commented that they really should get back to training, and Jon offered to let Lian watch, if she was interested. She agreed without hesitation, and was currently sat on the bench against the wall, watching with wide eyes as Jon and Damian fought, even though it looked closer to dancing in some ways.

The way Damian fought was like dancing. He was all graceful, fluid movements, and the occasional bout of acrobatics, judging by the way he swung from Jon’s shoulders to try and drive his knees into his stomach. Lian really liked that particular move. It looked like something right out of a movie or a video game.

Jon was interesting, he had super strength, yet looked afraid to use it. When he dodged an attack from Damian, he looked ready to jump and fly off at any second, like he was struggling to stay _on_ the ground. It was fascinating, and Lian couldn’t help but wonder, in the back of her mind, how she fought.

Probably clumsily and wishing she had a bow in her hands instead of being right in the thick of it. She’d been in exactly one fight before, if you didn’t count the drunken guy from a few days ago – it was at school. Some in her year guy was saying creepy stuff to one of her friends, and she just punched him without thinking. Roy hadn’t been impressed with the bloody nose she’d been sent home with, but he was proud of her for sticking up for someone.

She had a weird urge, she realised, as she watched the two of them dance around each other, to join in. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up, and that if she attempted to spar either of them, she’d end up flat on her back in seconds.

But still. She _wanted_ to.

As Jon attempted some complicated manoeuvre that involved picking Damian up by his arm, and throwing him – which, was actually going surprisingly smoothly, save for Damian not rolling across Jon’s back properly – as Lian’s thoughts began to roam. The fight at school, getting that drunk guy away from that kid, hell, even stitching up Tim’s wounds? That – that had all left a deep sense of something like satisfaction. But not _quite_ that, satisfaction because something was a little better in the world. Satisfaction because she’d done something right.

Did vigilantes get that? Every day? Every night? Every time they saved a life?

Lian tried to squash those thoughts. No. Being a vigilante was _dangerous_ and it needed a lot of training and expertise, that was the reason she’d literally only _just_ learnt about it, for crying out loud – but she could picture Jon and Damian fighting off bad guys just like how they were fighting each other, and she felt a stab of _longing_ go through her.

Lian swallowed shakily as a thought cemented itself in her mind.

She, Lian Harper, wanted to be a hero, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. Guys. Guys. 
> 
> We don't have many chapters left. We, my friends, are in the final stretch. There's gonna be 4/5 chapters, and then that's it. I'm weirdly emotional about this?? This fic is like my BABY, man!
> 
> (Also Roy being in a band?? that's canon baby!!)
> 
> Next Chapter: Lian and Roy go home, and arguments are had.


	13. And Now You Steal Away,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long guys, it's a really long chapter and y'know ~bad mental health draining the life outta ya~ so it took a while to write but I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> (Side note; i have several internet friends, and one of them really wanted to read some of my writing. I told her the name of my ao3 account, and she read everything. but there's a problem. SHE'S NOT PART OF THE DC FANDOM. SHE HAS READ THIS FIC AND HAS NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON. SHREYA I'M SORRY.)
> 
> Featuring: a ~discovery~, a few arguments, and a deal.

Lian woke up slowly. The apartment around her was mostly quiet, although she could hear someone moving around outside her door. She stared up at the ceiling, and the weird patterns the sunlight made on it, as she tried to wake herself up.

Absently, she could hear her dad and Jason’s voices through the wall. Talking quietly enough that she couldn’t hear what they were saying, but loudly enough that she could pick up on how their voices were soft and sleepy. It was surprising, they had finally gotten a night off for the first time all week, and yet the two of them still woke up around – she stretched slightly, and reached for her phone on the nightstand, to check the time – half eight in the morning.

She listened as the two of them started moving about more, and as one of them made their way to the rest of the apartment. Lian herself still felt sleepy, but a stupid idea was forming in her head. She could try and scare them. It was dumb, but she was still half asleep, and who didn’t love an early morning prank?

She slipped out from under her covers, stretched once, and walked as silently as she could to her door, and paused as a sudden thought came to her. When had she started thinking of this room as hers? When was it more her own and not just an extension of Jason’s place?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She was going home tomorrow – she’d get all upset if she kept thinking of this room as her own. She pushed open the door a crack, to check if it was her dad or Jason out there, and where they were.

To her surprise, it was both of them. Jason was sat at the kitchen table, from what Lian could see, and her dad was doing something at the stove. Which was _never_ a good sign.

She dared to open the door a little more, and paused. Her dad was laughing about something, very quietly – they were both keeping their voices hushed – but as Lian watched, her dad darted over to Jason, and kissed him.

She blinked.

Uh, what?

Her dad pulled away, and then went straight back to fiddling with whatever he was attempting to cook, joking and laughing with Jason like he hadn’t just _kissed_ him. This was a joke, right? Between the two of them? Her dad was straight the last time she checked!

Well, he evidently wasn’t, but that was beside the point!

Not that Lian was entirely _against_ the idea of her dad and Jason being a thing, because that would mean Jason would _literally_ be her other dad, and that’d be _sick_ , and he did make her dad super happy – but, wouldn’t they _tell her_?

Well. Going off of the past thirteen, nearly fourteen, years of her life… there were apparently a lot of things they weren’t telling her. But Lian had a feeling this wasn’t something that’d been going on for very long – or, long in terms of adult relationships. She didn’t exactly know the timeframe.

She could still scare the shit out at least one of them, though. She decided, as she tiptoed over to the kitchen as quietly as she could, that she wouldn’t mention the kiss. She could bring it up some other time, preferably when she and her dad were home, and he wouldn’t freak out because Jason was right there with him.

Thank god her dad was unobservant. Jason raised an eyebrow as she pressed a finger to her lips, and took a sip of his tea as he watched. Roy made to turn around, but Lian took him by surprise and poked him in the sides, where she knew he was ticklish.

He yelped, and whirled around, and immediately bent down to pick her up. Despite her being a good decade older than when he last regularly picked her up and carried her around, he was still plenty strong enough to do it now. Lian shrieked with laughter as she was hauled over her dad’s shoulder, looking at Jason, who was now upside down.

“Cheeky.” Roy said, already going back to whatever was on the stove. Lian giggled, and flopped around a bit. Infuriatingly, being a vigilante made you really, really strong, and her dad barely reacted to her desperate attempts to escape. If she really wanted to get out of his hold, she could’ve kicked him, but this was all fun and games. And she also would fall to the floor, head first, and probably break her neck.

“Jay! Save me!” Lian called, emphasising her heartbroken tone. “I have been _captured_.”

Jason’s upside-down face grinned at her. “Oh no, the horror.” He commented flatly, sipping his tea again. “Whatever shall we do.”

Lian gasped sharply. “ _Betrayal._ Betrayal of the highest order!”

“Uh huh, we’re evil villains.” Her dad said, doing something with his free hand, the sound of food frying reaching Lian’s ears, and filling her with fear. Her dad in the kitchen wasn’t… _bad_. Well, it wasn’t a death sentence. _Well –_ it wasn’t a _certain_ death sentence.

“You are.” Lian agreed. “See, you’re already conducting your evil plan. You cooking leads to nothing good.”

Jason snorted as her dad made an offended noise. “ _Excuse me_ , I have fed you for _thirteen years_ , and you aren’t dead yet. I’m not _that_ bad at cooking!”

There was a short silence, before her dad made another offended noise.

“ _Jaybird_ , my child I expected to betray me, but you? My closest friend?” he said, flicking one of Lian’s knees when she tried to wriggle out of his hold again.

“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” He commented. “Speaking of your terrible cooking, want me to take over?”

“No, I’ve told you, you have to stand for this – and you need to rest as much as possible. And we both know you’re not gonna do that properly once we’re gone. Might as well get it in now.” Roy commented, as Lian bent her body in half, and grabbed her dad’s shoulders. He stumbled back a bit, but quickly steadied himself as Lian sat on his shoulders properly. She leaned over his head, and looked at the bacon he was frying. It didn’t look… _that_ burnt.

“Tim called last night,” Jason said, and if Lian were an animal, her ears would’ve pricked up. A Wayne calling in the middle of the night could be normal, but it could also very easily be to do with vigilante stuff. “said that the case’s gone cold.”

“Christ.” Her dad muttered. “We _just_ started on it. They’re good – whoever they are. Think it has anything to do with Walls and Tim getting free?”

“Gotta be. You don’t just burn a whole system like that. Apparently, the warehouses were empty, all completely clean. One was blown up.”

Roy sighed. “ _Jesus_. So, back to square one?”

“More like square two. We’ve still got those parts, remember?”

“Those parts that make about as much sense as Bruce and Oliver making out?”

Lian tensed as Jason made a gagging noise. Did they know she’d seen them? “ _Dear_ god, do _not_ put that image into my head.”

“Yeah, Cha, don’t be gross.” Lian said, reaching down to poke her dad’s cheek.

“What’s with you calling me that lately?” Roy asked, grabbing one of the plates on the counter, and dispensing the, surprisingly unburnt, bacon onto it. “I’ve been ‘dad’ since you were ten.”

Lian shrugged. “I don’t know. Just keeps happening.”

Roy tapped her leg. “Okay, down you get, princess. I need to get those eggs.”

Lian swung her legs off of her dad’s shoulders, and jumped down. She pulled out a chair next to Jason, and sat down, and put her hand on his.

“Jay, when I die from food poisoning, I leave all my worldly possessions to you.” She said seriously. Jason nodded sombrely, and placed his other hand over hers.

“I am honoured, Lian. If I shall also perish, will you be okay with all of your things going to Damian?” he proclaimed, voice somehow comically serious.

“I can _hear_ you two.”

* * *

The day dragged on slowly, but comfortably. It mainly consisted of Jason walking around the apartment, Roy telling him off for not resting, and Lian being instructed with keeping him sat still. Cartoons, and trying to pry Red Hood stories out of him wasn’t working, and he was apparently antsy about the case – whatever case they’d come to Gotham for in the first place – going cold, so Lian broke out the case files under the floorboards.

“These are all pretty irrelevant cases, Li.” Jason said, flicking through one. “Stuff I was working on the side.” He explained. “Although…”

He opened one case file, and took out a photo. He frowned at it, as Lian leaned over his shoulder to try and get a better look. All she really caught was a glimpse of something that looked like a black skull before Jason tucked the photo back into the file and said, simply, “Bitch.”

“So, you don’t like that person?”

“God, no.” Jason said, putting the file down, and grabbing another. “Don’t open it, you don’t wanna read any of that. Nasty stuff.”

Lian peered over Jason’s shoulder again, and frowned at the incomprehensible mess of languages and words on the page. “I don’t think I _could_. How can you make any sense of that?”

Jason grinned. “I can’t. It’s gibberish. There’s an actual code in here – but anyone who stumbles across it isn’t gonna have a clue. Pretty sure I’m the only one who can read this easily.”

“Smart.” Lian said, mentally filing that away. Ridiculously complicated codes in secret case files hidden under the floorboards – the Bats, or at least Jason, were paranoid. Got it. “Damian said something the other day – you were Robin?”

Jason tensed slightly, and shrugged. “Yeah, I was. What of it?”

“How did that happen? What was being Robin like?” Lian asked, scooting closer to Jason. “Come on, I bet you have good stories!”

“I…” Jason looked at the file in his hands. “Yeah, I have a few. But you know who _really_ has some interesting stories about being Robin? Dick. He started the whole thing – plus, he did it for longer. You’d get more out of him.”

Lian opened her mouth to pry a little more, but shut it again when she realised Jason looked really uncomfortable. Did something bad happen to him whilst he was Robin, or something? Whatever, didn’t matter. She’d just ask about something else.

“Who’s your favourite hero?”

“Wonder Woman.” Jason responded, without hesitation. Lian grinned. “She’s incredible – I nearly died on the spot the first time I met her.”

She blinked. Hang on a second, _hang on a second_ – “You’ve _met_ Wonder Woman?!”

Jason grinned widely, nodded, and pulled out his phone. “Oh yeah, I’m pretty sure B keeps the photo I asked for with her on his phone – I’ll ask him to text me.” He said, shutting his phone off. He gave her a serious look, and said “She is _so_ much taller in real life. I’m six-two and she’s still taller.”

Lian felt a little giddy at the thought. Even though her favourite hero was _far_ and away Wonder Girl – the younger one, with blonde hair – Wonder Woman was a close second.

“She must be really strong.” Lian mused. Jason nodded again.

“Uh huh, just imagine little twelve-year-old me as Robin, an absolute stick, next to her. Diana is _insanely_ strong.”

Lian blinked, before grinning again. “So, her name is _Diana_?”

Jason snorted, before pausing. “Yeah. That was weird – you looked _exactly_ like your dad there, for a sec.”

“Wow, it’s almost like we’re related.”

“Okay, okay, smartass. Wanna hear about the time Dick took me out on our first shared patrol? He was a paranoid mess – it was _hilarious_.”

* * *

All too soon, Lian was waking up again, hugging Jason goodbye as she threatened him to _be careful or else_ – he promised he would be, and he hadn’t broken a promise to Lian yet – and was settling in her seat as her dad started the car.

“God, I am so glad you actually know about the whole nightlife thing now.” Her dad said cheerfully, glancing back to Jason’s building. “We can just zeta, it’s gonna be amazing. I’m gonna save _so_ much money on gas – plus, you know.” He grinned. “Teleporting is awesome.”

Lian stared at him. “Teleporting.” She echoed. “You’re not serious, right? Please tell me this is a poorly executed dad joke.”

Her dad simply grinned as he pulled out of the parking space, and Lian gaped.

“ _What?!_ Teleporting?! Okay, aliens with superstrength is _one_ thing – but _teleporting_?!”

“You’d be shocked at what I find weird at this point.” Her dad commented distractedly. “Like, I learned about Damian, and I was like ‘yikes’, but it wasn’t _weird_ , you feel?”

‘Learned about’ Damian? Did he mean learning about his general existence? Because she’d heard about what Damian was like when he was younger, but _still_ , he wasn’t that bad!

“What do you mean? Like about him being Robin?”

“No, I mean like how he grew up in the… wait, that’s something you don’t know about.” He bit his lip as he pulled onto the road properly. “Uh, how do I put this lightly?”

Lian remembered back to a few days ago – Damian jokingly commenting that he was raised by ninja assassins.

Oh, for _fuck’s sake._

“He was raised to be an assassin, right?”

Roy jerked in his seat, and twisted to look at her. “ _How_ do you know that?!”

She smiled. “Ah, so I was right.” She joked, before properly registering the alarmed expression on her dad’s face. “Uh – Damian said something about being trained to be an assassin from birth, and I assumed it was a joke, but…”

Her dad blinked at her, before turning back to the road. “ _Jesus_ kid. You’re too similar to your mom sometimes, how did you _remember_ that?” He sighed, before continuing. “Yes, Damian was raised to be an assassin. It’s kind of a sensitive topic – like me with needles sensitive – so… don’t bring it up just like that. Got it?”

“Got it.” Lian confirmed, looking out her window. It seemed like there was a _lot_ of stuff that was bad to talk about – like Jason starting as Robin, apparently.

But she had so many _questions_. Like – well, first of all, how mad would her dad be if she said she wanted to be a vigilante? He probably wouldn’t even be mad, he rarely was, just upset. And that was always worse.

Yeah, vigilante was probably dangerous territory for now. But… there was something that probably _wasn’t_.

“Are you and Jason dating?” she asked, voice weirdly loud in the nearly silent car. Roy jerked again, and spluttered.

“Are you _trying_ to make me crash?” he spluttered, face flushing red. Lian grinned at that. She didn’t blush easily, and when she did, it tended to be faint. A pale-ass redhead like her father, she was not.

“So… yes? Or do you two just kiss in his kitchen for fun?” she prompted, turning away from her window to look at him properly, instead of just his reflection. He made an interesting noise somewhere in between a squeak and a squawk.

“I – you – we – you _saw_ that?” he asked weakly. “God – that’s embarrassing. Why is that embarrassing?”

“Because you _liiiiiike_ him.” Lian teased. “Cha and Jay, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S –” she said, poking his side, but she was cut off by her own laughter as he groaned theatrically.

“I forget you’re thirteen for _two minutes_.” He grumbled, still blushing. “But… yes. I – can’t believe I’m saying this at _my age_ but – yeah. I _like_ Jay.”

She sat back against the seat, grinning. This – this was great, actually. This was _great_! Jason got all sappy and dorky around her dad, and her dad was already sappy and dorky as it was, and being around Jason just made him worse. But she’d seen them; and they were _happy_ around each other. Plus – Jason was now like her… stepdad? Well, he kinda was anyway, but now it was _official_.

“I can’t believe my dads are dating each other.” She joked. Her dad laughed quietly, but it was a little awkward. Uh oh. That wasn’t good.

“…You’re _not_ dating?”

“Well, I’m – I’m not sure?” He said awkwardly, taking one hand off the wheel to run through his long hair. “It’s kinda… complicated.”

Lian snorted. “How do you _not_ know if you’re dating someone? Don’t you just ask them out?”

Her dad sighed. “God, I wish adult relationships worked like they did in middle school. We didn’t ever really have… a conversation, about it.” He fidgeted. “I _hope_ we are, but – but I just don’t know. It’s not always super clear.”

“You do gross couple-y things together.” Lian countered. “He’s basically also my dad. I’ve seen you two kiss and –” she paused. Oh. _Oh_. Two days ago, when she’d walked in on them at Wayne Manor, they’d been kissing then too. Gross.

“That pause is not suggesting anything good.” Her dad said, nervously. Lian knew she was probably was being a little mean, but it was kinda funny watching him flounder.

“You were kissing at Wayne Manor.” She added. “God, that explains _so_ much. I feel like an idiot for not getting it.”

Her dad relaxed, finally, and the slight tension in the car evaporated. “You’re not an idiot – besides, you were kinda focused on a few other things.”

Lian slumped down in her seat, and fiddled with the end of her braid. “Yeah, I guess. Are you _gonna_ have the conversation with Jay?”

Her dad shrugged. “I’ll try. Knowing me, I’ll end up scaring him off.” He said sombrely. “I’m pretty good at that, unfortunately.” He added, leaving the _‘like your mom’_ hanging in the air heavily.

Lian didn’t really know much about her mom, really. She knew that her dad had loved her, but they’d also been messy and not really the healthiest relationship. She wasn’t sure _what_ happened, but she was with her dad and not her, after all. Couldn’t exactly have been nothing. She knew her mom was Vietnamese, and her name was Jade Nguyen. And that she’d given Lian to her dad before she was one. Apparently, she sent letters until Lian was about three, and then they’d just… stopped.

“He’s the Red Hood.” Lian said simply. “Jason doesn’t get scared _that_ easily. And you’re hardly scary, Cha.”

He reached over to ruffle her hair. “You’d be surprised. Anyway, once we get home, I’m thinking ice cream, leaving unpacking till tomorrow, and some movie?”

“Let’s watch a Marvel one,” Lian decided, pulling out her phone. She could just scroll through social media for a bit, give her brain a break. “I wanna see how accurate they portray superheroes.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Aw, fuck. Still need to call Dinah.”

Lian hummed as she opened Instagram, and as her dad fiddled with the radio, and pressed play on a CD. Because he was old, and he liked CDs over streaming. She bopped her head to the music as she liked one of her friend’s photos.

“What’s the name of this one?”

“Hm, it’s _You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid_. By the Offspring. I not shown you this one before?”

Lian shook her head. “Nah. It’s cool though.” She swayed a little to the beat. Definitely something she could imagine kicking ass and fighting crime to.

Fighting crime… she’d have to think of a good damn argument for why she should become a vigilante.

Still though, it could wait. She had time.

* * *

“I wanna be a vigilante.” She said, her voice feeling heavy and serious, the weight of the world and legacy all hanging heavily from her words.

Lian groaned, and rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror. “No, too blunt. That’s not gonna _work_ , Lian!” she muttered to herself.

She sighed, and popped her toothbrush back in her mouth. She’d been home all of seven and a half hours, and still hadn’t come up with a decent argument. ‘I want to’ was really all she had, because ‘I want to make people safer’ could easily be rebutted with something along the lines of ‘you could do that if you were a firefighter, or a doctor’.

‘I want to be like you’ _could_ work, but it was kinda a low blow, and she didn’t want to have to stoop if she could help it.

‘It’s the right thing to do’ felt too dramatic. Too… too much like she had something to prove. Which she kinda did – she had to prove she was capable of being able to handle being a vigilante and all. But it just didn’t fit, even though it was right.

She spat into the sink, and ran the faucet, making a little cup with her hands to wash out her mouth. She’d work on it, she had time.

* * *

“I’m – yeah, I don’t _care_ about what he’s gonna say.” Her dad said quietly. “Dinah, he’ll kick off more if I don’t say it to his face.”

Lian was on the couch, finally colouring in her Wonder Woman drawing, as he paced around the kitchen. It felt eerily similar to how she was before Jason appeared the week before. But she did this a lot, to be fair.

She opened her own phone as her dad sighed heavily at something Dinah said. She mused over her background for a second – a picture of Wonder Girl – Jason knew Wonder Woman, and Wonder Woman knew Wonder Girl, and Wonder Girl knew _Tim_ , because they were on a team together. Would it be weird to keep her as her phone background? She just really admired –

Lian felt her face flush as some things clicked together. _Oh_. _That_ was why she admired Wonder Girl so much. She may, or may not, have a _slight_ celebrity crush. And it was on someone that she kind of indirectly _knew_.

She shut her phone quickly, and wanted to bury her face in her hands. She had to be in the _weirdest_ situation possible to realise she had a crush on someone.

Briefly, her mind wandered. If she were to ever actually meet Wonder Girl – _wow_ , meeting _Wonder Girl_ of all people – how would it happen? Oh, wouldn’t it be _sick_ if she were a vigilante, and Wonder Girl told her…

Lian swallowed. Oh yeah. Being a vigilante. She still needed to bring that up.

She could just do it… _now_. Maybe. _Maybe_.

“Yeah, well, he – oh, no, I haven’t told him about Jason. Uh, Lian… kinda figured it out.” Lian heard her dad explain awkwardly. She smirked. Vigilante detective or not – she was _good_ at finding stuff out. There was a pause, before Roy spluttered and said “It’s not _my fault_ – she’s smart, okay!”

Well, maybe she shouldn’t bring it up, he sounded pretty stressed.

There was a beat of silence before he sighed heavily, and said “You’ll tell him? Okay. Tomorrow? We can do that. Yeah, I love you too.”

He flopped down onto the couch next to her, and groaned. “I knew that was gonna happen. Why was I even surprised?”

Okay… he didn’t sound _incredibly_ stressed. More just ‘I’m tired from talking to someone’ than ‘If God challenges me one more time I will actually march up to heaven and shoot him in the eye’ stressed. (He’d genuinely said that once, whilst very sleep deprived. Lian still found it hilarious.)

“So, Dinah didn’t take it well?” Lian guessed, poking her dad’s leg with her foot.

Her dad poked her right back, and shrugged. “Well, she wasn’t mad. More just upset that we didn’t get to break the news the way we planned.”

Aha! The situation wasn’t _that_ bad, she could _totally_ bring it up without ruining everything, right?

“She’s gonna tell grandpa Ollie, right?” Lian guessed. “D’you think he’s gonna take it well?”

He groaned, and dramatically flopped his arm over his face. “Honestly, I don’t want to know. With luck, we won’t have an argument.”

He sighed, and pushed himself up on his elbows. “Well, should I get started on dinner? Your turn to pick the movie tonight.” He said, smiling at her. Lian swallowed. Maybe she shouldn’t say anything. He looked really relaxed for once, and she really, _really_ didn’t want to ruin a full night.

“And I know you miss Jason’s cooking, but we can’t _all_ be taught by Alfred, you know.” He joked. His face fell, though, as he must’ve noticed something in her expression.

“You okay, princess? You look like you got something on your mi–”

“I wanna be a vigilante.”

The cartoon playing softly on the TV was deafening in the sudden silence that fell. Cars on the road outside became as loud as jet engines, and every footstep from the hallway just outside their door was as loud as a gunshot.

Her dad blinked at her. He looked… not angry. Lian could count the amount of times she’d seen her dad angry at _her_ on one hand, but he looked somewhere in between confused, shocked, and deeply, _deeply_ disappointed. That stung worse, somehow. Lian felt a stone drop into her gut. Fuck, that’d been a mistake.

“You… what?” he asked, voice weirdly loud, and slightly strangled. Lian looked down at her sketchbook, not meeting his eyes.

“I… I wanna be a vigilante.” She said, all the debate material she’d constructed seemingly disappearing from her mind, as she’d completely forgotten it all.

Roy pushed himself up into a normal sitting position, and sighed heavily, looking at the floor. Lian felt a little ill.

“Let me guess. You want to be a vigilante because everyone else is doing it, and it’s cool?” and his voice was heavy, and serious, and Lian was suddenly very, very aware of the anxiety resting in her gut.

“I – no.” she said softly. “Not – not really. Well…” she bit her lip. “Remember – um – remember that I helped that kid with a drunk guy in Gotham?”

Her dad nodded. “I remember.”

“I just – it felt so _good_ , you know? To – to _help_ someone. It felt like I was doing something _right_ , and the feeling I got was insane, it was like satisfaction but not quite because it wasn’t about doing something I wanted it was about –”

“You’re rambling.” Her dad said softly, looking up at her. he was smiling, but it looked…

Sad. Sad in a way Lian didn’t quite recognise.

“You know what I mean, though?” she breathed. “ _Helping_ someone? And that feeling you get?”

He nodded again, and even laughed a little. “Yeah, I know. I know exactly what you mean. You wanna be a vigilante to help people?”

Lian nodded enthusiastically, daring to sit up and put her sketchbook down. “Yeah! I wanna help people – I wanna jump around the city and stop bad guys and help solve cases and –”

“And… you’re way more like me than I realised.” Her dad said, tiredly. “Should’ve seen this coming, damn.” He announced, standing up, and stretching.

Wait. Wait, no. She’d _said_ it, but –

“So, can I?” she asked, swinging her legs off the couch. “Can I become a vigilante?”

Roy dropped his hands from his hair, and let it fall over his face, before pushing it back with one hand. He looked up at the ceiling, before turning his gaze towards her.

“No.” he said. “Absolutely not.”

Lian frowned. Sure, she _expected_ this answer but… just _no?_

“Why not?” she tried, standing up as he walked around the couch, and made his way to the kitchen. “Is it because I’m thirteen? _You_ started at thirteen.”

He paused, his hand about to pull open the fridge. “Lian,” he said quietly. “I’m saying no. This isn’t just a hobby you can _jump_ _into_ like that. This –” he pulled open the fridge, and made a face at the apparently underwhelming contents. “– is empty, we’re gonna have to go shopping.”

“ _Dad_.”

“What, Lian?” he asked. “It’s _dangerous_.” He snapped, accidentally shutting the fridge with more force than necessary. The door made a loud _bang_ as it slammed shut, causing the both of them to freeze up.

He exhaled slowly, and a bit of the tension eased. But it was still there, resting just below Lian’s skin.

“It’s dangerous.” He repeated, softly. “Is it so bad of me to want to keep you out of it?”

Lian clenched her jaw. “Dad. I’m _already_ in danger.” She said, and to her horror, her voice came out harder than she meant it to. “I’m in danger by you just _being_ my dad, and I _know_ everything now. It’d make a lot more sense for me to be protected as a younger vigilante than just as a _kid_.”

“You’re not _just_ a kid.” He explained. “You – we’re in a weird situation, okay? Nothing is clear on what we’re meant to do. I’m doing my _best_ –”

“I never said you weren’t!” she yelled, and the anger that she’d been fighting down was suddenly bubbling under her skin and behind her eyes, making her hands shake slightly. “And – and _how_ am I in a weird situation!? Pretty much every hero ever has kids, it fucking seems!”

Her dad’s face looked pained, but as he opened his mouth to continue, Lian cut him off.

“You – is it because I wasn’t _planned_? Is it to do with _mom_?”

Her dad’s expression went from hurt, to alarmed. “Lian, no.” he said, his voice and expression soft, but his eyes still panicked. He walked towards her, and rested his hands on her shoulders, bending down slightly so they could see eye to eye.

“Lian, sweetheart, _em yêu_.” He said kindly, pushing her bangs back as she pointedly looked away from him. The corners of her eyes prickled, but she wouldn’t do it. She would. Not. Cry.

“It has _nothing_ to do with you not being planned, okay?” he said, smoothing his thumb over her cheekbone, a place where they both had freckles. Hers were faint, and his were clear. “Absolutely nothing to do with that at all. It’s…” he trailed off, clearly thinking of what to say.

“ _Có phải về mẹ không_?” she muttered, turning her head away from her dad’s hand. _Is it about mom?_

Her dad said nothing. Lian held back a sob.

“It is. Isn’t it.” She asked. She turned her head back to look at her dad, and his expression was unreadable. There was just too much there – he was shocked, upset, alarmed, about a billion other things –

“Dad, what the _hell_ haven’t you been telling me?” she spat, and she _knew_ she sounded rude, and she _knew_ she sounded like she was about to cry, and she _knew_ how young and stupid she probably sounded.

“ _Cha. Làm ơn cho tôi biết_.” she pleaded. “Please, just _tell_ me. I – I’ve gotta know. Tell me, or give me an _actual_ reason why I shouldn’t want to _help_ people!” she began her sentence softly, but as she spoke, her frustration and anxiety and anger all rose, until she was yelling her last few words.

Her dad looked at the floor. “I… can’t. I can’t tell you, not when you’re so upset. I’d really be a bad dad if I did that. Trust me, it’s… it’s not something you’d be able to handle –”

“Oh, I’m _sick_ of people saying that!” Lian yelled, taking a few steps back. “I _get_ it – I’m just a stupid _kid_ that can’t handle being told half this _shit_ because I’d be in danger, as if I wasn’t _already!_ ”

She was shaking, all that anger that’d been burning her throat seemingly having burnt itself out. And her dad said nothing.

“I – I’m gonna go to my room.” She said, voice quiet.

“Okay. I’ll go to the grocery store.” Her dad said, sliding his hands in his pockets. “Do you want me to –”

Lian wanted to scream at him again. But she felt weird and shaky and fragile and if she said one thing wrong, she’d _definitely_ start crying –

Just fuck _off_ , her thoughts yelled. But…

“Just – just leave me alone.” She asked, keeping her head held up, but her voice still trembled.

“Alright then.” Her dad said softly, as she turned on her heel, and walked to her room, shutting the door louder than she needed to.

She pressed her back to her door, and slid down to the floor as she heard her dad moving around the apartment, getting his keys and leaving. He’d did as she asked, he was leaving her alone. And Lian could already feel herself cooling off, much to her own annoyance.

Everything just felt so… so _fucking_ unfair. _Yes,_ being a vigilante was stupid dangerous, but she was _already_ in danger, and didn’t know how to protect herself – and it wasn’t fair to expect everyone else to protect her. She. It. _Fuck_.

She drew her knees up to her chest, and buried her head in her hands. Teenage angst, it fucking _sucked_.

Because of the angle her legs were at, Lian felt her phone slip out of her jean pockets. She scrubbed at her eyes – that were threatening to spill the tears that’d gathered – and picked up her phone. Her lock screen was Wonder Girl, and her home screen was just some sunset picture she took once. She stared at it, as she debated whether or not she should look.

She gave in, and selected her pictures, scrolled down her folders, and picked the one at the very bottom. _Mẹ,_ the Vietnamese word for mom.

Lian had three photos of her mom. One of her with her dad, looking vaguely annoyed at the camera as her dad grinned, one of the three of them, where she was kissing Lian’s cheek, and one of her mom taken by her dad, whilst she held Lian as a baby.

Lian could see the similarities she had to her mother. But… aside from the same eyes, the same nose, same hair. What did they even have in common?

Aside from enjoying when her dad floundered, apparently.

She shut her phone, and stood up. She walked over to her bed, and flopped onto it, face first. She was tired, and if she just closed her eyes for a bit…

* * *

Lian woke up to her door shutting quietly. She blinked, and rubbed her eyes as she sat up, and saw a plate of food in the middle of her floor, knife and fork laid neatly on the plate. But what caught Lian’s interest was the carton of ice cream next to the plate, with a sticky note left on the lid.

She swung her legs off her bed, and picked up the ice cream carton – caramel flavour, good choice – and read the sticky note. **Sorry, hope u feel better** , with a smiley face. Lian smiled reluctantly, as she picked up the plate. Her dad was such a _dork_ sometimes. She was still pissed off at him, but…

But… it was nice. Apology – not _quite_ accepted, but give her a good day or so, and she might change her mind.

The ice cream really did help sweeten the deal, though.

* * *

Lian poked her head out of her room, and saw the shape of her dad in the kitchen. Okay, it’d taken less than a day, but she’d still been eating ice cream whilst she cried out of frustration, so that probably helped get it out of her system.

The sound of water running reminded Lian of the empty plate in her hand, and she pushed her door open with her shoulder. It felt weirdly heavy – she supposed that was because the door to her room at Jason’s place was a lot lighter.

Her dad said nothing as she silently put her plate and cutlery on the counter, and put the remaining ice cream in the fridge. She hesitated for a second – before grabbing a dish cloth, and pulling her phone out of her pocket.

“So…” she said, voice weirdly loud in the silent kitchen. She cringed at it as Roy turned to face her, expression carefully neutral. “What song? Just feels weird to do the dishes in silence.”

He was silent for a moment as he considered her peace offering and apology, before breaking into an easy smile, and saying “You know, I’m in a Joan Jett mood. You like the Blackhearts, right?”

Lian exhaled slightly in relief, as she nodded and felt her own smile work its way onto her face. “Hell yeah, _Bad Reputation_ is a banger.”

Her dad frowned as he started scrubbing one of the plates, the opening guitar chords ringing through the kitchen. “A banger?”

She gasped, purposefully making it incredibly loud and sharp. “ _Cha_! My god, you’re…” she clapped a hand to her chest as Roy rolled his eyes and smiled. “ _old!_ ”

“Yeah, yeah. But, could an old guy do… _this?!_ ” he announced, suddenly whirling around and flicking bubbles at her. Lian shrieked, somewhere in between laughter and shock, and automatically whipped the dish cloth in her hands, catching him in the sides as he laughed.

And as the songs bled into one another, the two of them laughed, and the dishes did, eventually, get clean.

* * *

“Okay, remember, this could go tits up at any point, so don’t get super comfy.” Her dad reminded her, as he pulled into the driveway. “We’re not staying for dinner or anything, there’s not a social obligation to stay, or whatever.”

Lian nodded, fiddling with her seatbelt. “You’re not gonna… like, fight Grandpa Ollie, are you?” she asked. Whilst she was aware of the, uh, _tension_ , between her grandpa and her dad, that didn’t mean she had to _like_ it.

Her dad sighed, looking up at the mansion. “I won’t throw any punches, if that’s what you mean. I’ll _try_ not to fight him, but, hey, promises are for losers.” He tried, smiling half-heartedly.

“Don’t get a black eye. Jason will be sad his boyfriend doesn’t look nice.” She joked right back. Her dad smirked, before flexing his fingers, his hands still not off the wheel.

“Oh, I told Jay about you finding out.” He added. “He was… kinda panicked, at first. Then I told him you were super happy about it, which calmed him down a lot. He’s still kinda panicky, though. You should probably call him at some point.”

“Did you ask him out properly?”

“Well, I _tried_ , but apparently, he thought we were dating and that I was aware of this. He laughed at me, but then said, yeah, he’d be my boyfriend.” Her dad said, and Lian wanted to laugh at the grin on his face. He looked happy, really, genuinely happy. The dork.

The dork that hadn’t realised he’d been _dating_ his own _boyfriend_. Just – just, _wow_.

“That… wow.” Lian snorted, unable to hold back at least _one_ giggle. “Only you, Dad, only you.”  
  


Her dad shrugged, and then pulled a face. “Oh, that’s weird. You’ve been calling me Cha so much recently, god, that’s kinda jarring.” He looked towards the mansion again, and then back at Lian. He was stalling.

“You’re stalling.” Lian said. “We’re gonna have to go in eventually.”

Her dad sighed, and leaned back in his seat, letting his head hit the headrest with a quiet thump. “Yeah, I know. I just…” he scrubbed his hands over his face, and exhaled quickly. “I’m fine, okay, let’s go.” He announced, seemingly to no one but himself, and opened the car door. Lian quickly popped her seatbelt, and followed him out.

Her grandpa’s place was pretty different from the Waynes’, it was more modern and all geometric, whatever that meant. It was a word Dinah had used to describe it once, and it sounded good, so she supposed that it was. Speaking of Dinah…

When her dad knocked on the door – it opened to Dinah’s smiling face.

“Roy! Hey darling, how’ve you been?” she asked, as she opened her arms and dragged him into a hug.

Her dad hugged back quickly. “Hey Di, I’ve been okay.”

Dinah released him, and turned her grin to Lian. “And there’s my favourite girl!” she bent down – she was in heels, and tall anyway, and Lian was only short – and wrapped Lian into a hug as well. Lian liked Dinah’s hugs, she always smelt of this nice perfume and her hair tickled Lian’s face.

“So, a little birdie told me that you’ve learnt about our nightlife.” Dinah said with a wink, ushering the two of them inside and closing the door.

Lian shot a deadpan look at her dad. She wasn’t even shocked anymore – you could tell her anyone walking down the street was a damn superhero, and she’d believe it. “Dinah too?”

Her dad smiled guiltily. “I forget to mention that?”

“ _Honestly_ , you two.” Dinah rolled her eyes, as she led the two of them through the familiar hallway. She flopped down on one of the couches in one of the living rooms. “I expected you would’ve given her a full rundown of everyone she knows by now.”

“I _would’ve_ ,” her dad said, sticking his hands in his pockets as Lian sat next to Dinah. “but we kinda didn’t have the chance. You know what the Bats are like.”

Dinah sighed, and nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I do. Everything all at once, or not at all.”

Lian snorted. Everyone referring to the Waynes as ‘the Bats’ was kind of hilarious. Like they were all just a big family of _actual_ bats. Although, only a few of them had ‘bat’ in the name, the rest tended to be birds. (There was probably a bird called a red hood, right?) so… bats and birds. Huh. That was a good idea for a drawing.

“Roy.” A familiar voice said, and Lian looked up from where she’d been staring off at – getting lost in her thoughts again – to see her grandpa.

“Ollie.” Her dad said, and Lian noticed the relaxed slope of his shoulders looked a little… fake. Normally, they could see each other with no problem, but apparently, not this time.

“Hi grandpa!” Lian announced. He noticed her sat on the couch with Dinah, and smiled.

“Hi, Lian.” He said, before turning his gaze back to Roy. “So, shall we talk?”  
  
“Obviously. We’re here for a reason.” Her dad joked, but it felt a little forced. The two of them walked off somewhere, as Dinah immediately started talking to Lian again.

“So, I know the gist of it, but I want details.” She said, grinning widely. “How’d you find out?”

Lian felt her own grin spread onto her face. “Okay, so, it’s a bit weird. I realised Dad and Jason were sneaking out every night, and when I spent time with Damian and Tim, they were really obviously hiding something.”

Dinah clapped her hands appreciatively. “Oh, _nice_ setup. Feels like I’m about to watch a whole drama.”

“And I did some snooping in Jason’s apartment–”

“A little detective already, no wonder the Bats like you.”

“–and I found a hiding spot for things like rubber bullets and case files and stuff, so I was _super_ suspicious. I thought they were all part of the mafia.”

Dinah snorted. “That – I’m surprised we haven’t been investigated for that yet. Completely fair assumption.”

“Right!?” Lian swung her legs up onto the couch, and crossed her legs. “So – I followed Dad and Jason onto the roof, but I couldn’t _see_ properly, so I couldn’t tell they were vigilantes. They ran off in different directions, I followed Jason, and I kinda…” Lian fidgeted a bit, not entirely sure what Dinah’s reaction would be. “I kinda followed him into the Batcave?”

Dinah blinked. “The – the _Batcave_.”

Lian nodded. “Yeah. It was an accident though – I got in trouble for being out really late and jumping over rooftops instead of sneaking in.” she assured.

“That,” Dinah paused, frowning. “is not what I meant. I thought Ollie was a little paranoid with how many security measures are downstairs, but the _Batcave_ …” she shook her head. “So, you were in the cave, then what?”  
  


“I realised I’d been following Jason, waited for him to walk away, went out to check out what the rest of the cave looked like, and Jason saw me, and took off his helmet. Like a fool.” Lian smirked at the memory. “He was really spooked when it all clicked. Although, Uncle Dick was more worried about what Cha was gonna say than Jason was…” she trailed off, noticing Dinah’s expression. “What?”

“You called him Cha.” Dinah noted. “You haven’t done that since you were, oh, roughly ten? Any reason for that?”

Lian blinked. “Oh. Uh – it just keeps happening.” She narrowed her eyes. “Wait a minute, this isn’t a weird psychology thing, is it?”

Dinah smiled, clearly holding back laughter. “I never said that. Anyway, you found out Red Hood was Jason. And then…?”

As Lian launched into her story properly, she became aware of the sound of her dad and grandpa’s raised voices from another room. She tried to ignore it, but when the voices suddenly stopped, and a door suddenly banged open, she cut herself off.

Her dad walked into the room; hands balled into fists. Lian could practically _see_ the anger rolling off of him. Yikes, it must’ve gone badly.

“Sorry, Dinah, but I think we’re leaving.” He said shortly, and Lian quickly untangled herself, and squeezed Dinah into a hug.

“That’s alright. Call me if you need to talk.” She said, leaning over Lian’s shoulder as she hugged her back.

“Will do.” Roy said. “Again, I’m sorry for cutting this short–”

“And _again_ , it’s okay.” Dinah repeated, tapping Lian’s back as she stood up. “Alright, I’ll see you some other time. I’m owed a dinner from you two.” She joked.

Lian grinned. “See ya, Dinah!” she called, as her dad started walking away, Lian needing to run a little to keep up with him.

“You okay?” Lian asked, as her dad shut the door behind them, storming over to the car.

“I’ve been better.” Her dad said, through gritted teeth. “God, I can’t _believe_ – ugh. Get in the car.”

Lian slid into her seat, looking at her dad in concern. “What’d he say?”

“Surprisingly, he was pretty on board with you knowing about all of this. He even _suggested_ – ugh, but _no_ , he _had_ to give his two fucking cents on _Jason_ –” he explained as he started the car. “Because of _course_ he knows everything about Jason and your _mom_ and _me_.”

He pressed his forehead to the steering wheel, and groaned. “Long story short, he doesn’t _approve_ of Jason and me, and he really doesn’t like Jason and you spending time together. As _if_ it were like _ten years ago_.”

Lian sat back in her seat as they pulled out of the driveway, staying quiet.

“Sure, he wasn’t okay a good few years ago, but _people change_.” He muttered. “People _fucking_ change, I used to be like _that_ and now I’m raising a fucking kid.” He said, seemingly to no one but himself. “ _Dickhead_.”

He fell into silence, and for a while, the only sound was the engine humming, and the sound of other cars passing. Lian didn’t want to say anything, but she could feel her dad’s anger… not leaving, but cooling.

“So. I was thinking about what you said, last night.” He said, voice softer now. Lian felt her heart jump into her throat. She sat up a little straighter, but made sure not to actually look at him, lest she get her hopes up. Was it happening? Would he tell her she – that she could?

“And, I’m gonna make you an offer. I thought that it did make sense that you’d wanna be able to protect yourself–”

_Please, please, pleeeeeease –_

“But I’m still not letting you become a vigilante.”

Well. Shit.

Lian gave in, and looked at him. “Where are you going with this…?”

He smiled. “Knew you’d be curious. I talked to Jason about it, and he reasoned that some self defense training wouldn’t be unreasonable.”

Self defense training? Well, it was hardly what she’d hoped for, but it was still pretty damn good.

“Yes. Absolutely. _Please_.” Lian said, all in a rush. “Please, please tell me you’ll _actually_ let me –”

Her dad managed a laugh, and reached over to ruffle her hair. She made a noise that was _not_ a squawk, and batted his hands away. “Yeah, I will. Good thing we won’t need to pay for lessons.”

Lian shot him a confused look as she tried to sort her bangs out. “Why not?”

Her dad smirked. “Did you forget who Jason’s family is?”

Holy _shit_. Lian opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She just shook her head, and laughed slightly. “Oh my _god_. This is gonna be _insane_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooh boy shit's gonna get WILD! :D
> 
> (this is not an oliver queen stan account can you tell)
> 
> also Roy not realizing that he and Jason are dating was actually not my idea, it was @ghostfaeries's beautiful, beautiful concept so you may all thank them 
> 
> next chapter: do i hear wedding bells?


	14. Take Him Out Today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow look everyone it took me less than two months this time!
> 
> this little bitch bastard of a chapter... if i could physically fight any of my writing, it'd be this behemoth of all my struggles.
> 
> i struggled a bit, can you tell?
> 
> featuring: Lian meets her celebrity crush, an attempted wedding, things going horribly wrong, and... oh no. and maybe an actual wedding somewhere towards the end. 
> 
> (trigger warnings because whoo boy: Kidnapping (sorta), bombs, threats of buildings exploding, mentions, descriptions of dissociation, and characters not really taking care of themselves.)

When Lian started self defense training, she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Maybe starting with how to block punches, or how to dodge.

“Look, it’s all momentum, see?” Dick said, landing on his feet effortlessly. “Like when you do a cartwheel – it’s not _just_ balance.”

She wasn’t expecting to be taught how to do, as Jason eloquently put it, ‘all that flipsy shit’. When she trained with Dick, it was all of the normal stuff, _plus_ all these extra acrobatics. He claimed it was for fun, but call Lian an immature and unknowledgeable fourteen-year-old, but she was starting to question his idea of fun.

At the moment, she was currently sat on the training mats, watching Dick carefully demonstrate how to do a back handspring. She wasn’t entirely sure _why_ she’d need it, but she’d been doing blocking exercises all day, and her arms were aching worse than they did when she practiced archery for too long. It was a welcome distraction.

“Wanna try again?” Dick asked, falling into a handstand like it was nothing. He must’ve seen something in her expression as she pushed herself to her feet, and nodded, because he added “If you’re done for the day, that’s fine.”

“No, I can try again.” Lian insisted. Dick frowned at her from upside down, and cocked his head, his hair falling over his face. He really needed to cut it – it was starting to resemble those really old photos of when he had a mullet unironically.

“Mm, okay.” Dick said, sounding unconvinced. “Show me a handstand again?”

Lian frowned, but she did as she was asked, and got onto her hands, and lifted herself into the air. Dick could just fall into one, easier than breathing, whilst she was still having trouble doing it one movement. Although, comparing herself to _Dick Grayson_ in the acrobatics department was a ridiculous idea to begin with.

“Why did you want me to do this?” She asked, hair pooling onto the training mat below. Her braid had half fallen out, but according to Steph, she should try to learn to work around loose hair. It was still annoying, though. Maybe she just needed some stronger hair ties…

“Because,” Dick said, now technically right side up. “your arms are shaking. You’re tired, kiddo. We can stop.”

Lian glared at him, and tried to ignore the shaking in her arms as she poked her tongue out. “Yeah, but I can _try_ –”

Dick’s leg reached out from above her, and brushed against her knee. Lian made a surprised noise, her arms suddenly giving out. She used what little amount of strength she still had to make sure she fell backwards instead of onto her head – but she still let out a groan when her back hit the training mat.

“Yeah, that’s enough for today. Teacher’s orders.” Dick confirmed. There was a familiar whooshing sound as he probably did some fancy flip or something to get back on his feet, and then he was helping to pull her up.

“Thanks.” Lian said quietly, massaging her arms. She was pretty strong in her arms, thanks to years of archery, but still. How did Dick _do_ it?

“You’ve gotta start doing this really cool thing.” Dick said, leaning back against the wall, rubbing his wrists. “It’s called stopping when you’re tired.”

Lian opened her mouth to protest, but Dick cut her off quickly with “Ah, no, none of that. You’ve been doing it since you started, don’t think we didn’t notice.”

She shut her mouth, and glared at her feet. She didn’t see why it was such a _problem_. Sure, she worked until she got tired, and then she worked some more. She just… she just wanted to do _well_. And she kind of had to – just because of who was teaching her. It wasn’t just Dick, she only worked with him every two weeks, it was Steph, and Cass, and Jason, and her dad, and Damian, and Jon a few times. Once Wally had joined in with Dick, and Lian had felt ready for death afterwards. How _Dick_ kept up with him, Lian didn’t even have the answers.

“I just… wanna do my best.” Lian mumbled, tugging her hair tie out of her mess of hair, and grimacing at the tangles she could see already.

“Christ,” Dick said, laughing slightly. “You sure you’re not one of Bruce’s kids?”

Lian looked up from her feet, and gave him a confused look. He was sat on one of the benches now, and opening a bottle of water. He gestured for her to come sit next to him, and reluctantly, Lian did, taking the water bottle he offered her as well. “What does that mean?”

“You’ve got Bat syndrome, overworking yourself, acting like you’re not.” Dick paused to take a sip. “We’re all bad for it. Which is _why,_ ” he gave her a pointed look. “you’ve gotta tell me when you’re tired. Or want to stop. Okay?”

Lian frowned, and took a sip of her own water. “Okay.”

“Besides, it’s bad to overwork yourself. Tim’s awful for it, that’s why we have to break into his apartment to get him to sleep sometimes. It’s not healthy, you know? And if you’re not healthy…”

“…I can’t do my training.”

“Exactly.” Dick said, knocking her arm. “Finish that water, I’ll call your dad. Or Jay. Who’s picking you up again?”

Lian shrugged. “Uh, should be Cha, but we’re eating at Jason’s tonight.” She took another sip, and suddenly remembered something. “Oh! Are you excited for the wedding?”  
  


Dick grinned, and nodded as he grabbed his phone. “Course I am. The planning is _finally_ over, Li.” He said, stretching his arms. “I cannot tell you how _relieved_ I am.”

“So, if anything went wrong?”

“That’s weirdly ominous.” Dick sent a comically suspicious look her way. “I’d be on the warpath.”

“Fair,” Lian said, as Dick pressed a finger to his lips, and held his phone up to his ear.

“Hi, man, yeah Lian and I have just finished up–” Lian heard him begin, as she picked up her bag, and headed to the locker rooms. Technically, the Batcave did have showers, and she knew she was allowed to use them, but she just didn’t trust them. One, they looked ridiculously complicated to use, and two, she was managing just fine by spraying herself with deodorant and changing clothes, and showering once she got home. The day she used the Batcave showers would be if someone was dead or dying.

She pulled off her shirt, and examined her arms. They didn’t _look_ bad, although her palms looked a little raw, but they certainly felt it. Oh well, she’d bother her dad or Jason for an ice pack or something. She had archery practice tomorrow, and she really didn’t need extra sore arms on top of learning how to use a bow-mounted quiver. (She was fine with a thigh or shoulder quiver, but her dad insisted.)

She finished up in the locker room, and had just started raking her hand through her hair to put it up again, when she walked out into the cave again, Dick just saying goodbye to her dad.

“Okay, he’s on his way. He’s zeta-ing, so I’m guessing maybe a half hour.” Dick said, shutting his phone off. “You want anything to eat? I can steal something from the kitchen, or if Alfred’s feeling generous, he might–”

Lian shook her head. “No, I’m good. I don’t have a cereal addiction, unlike you.”

“I _do not have_ –”

“You have three unopened boxes of Lucky Charms at your apartment.” Lian countered. “Wally told me.”

Dick frowned. “Well, if you lived with a speedster, you’d understand the need for snack food.”

“He said he’s not allowed to touch them.”

“ _Look–_ ”

Lian laughed, and dodged under Dick’s extended arm, her bag thumping her back as she made her way up the stairs quickly. There were a lot of entrances to the Batcave, but this was somehow, the _easiest_ to access, in and out. And Lian _still_ hadn’t gotten used to the steep staircase, despite going up and down it three times a week for the past three months.

Speaking of getting used to the damn thing, Lian had been training for _three months_ already, and that just seemed… insane. To her, and to her dad, the one time she’d mentioned it. Some of her older clothes were struggling to fit around her arms, and her dad had laughed at her and told her it was bound to happen eventually when she complained about all the stretched-out sleeves.

‘Bound to happen eventually’, what did that even _mean_?

She pushed open the clock, and stepped into the library. Once again, Wayne Manor was full of people. Normally, it was pretty quiet on account of only Damian, Bruce, and Alfred living there, and Tim and Steph often stopping by, but with Dick and Wally’s wedding right around the corner, and with so much to do, everyone had made their way back to Gotham soon enough. And as everyone always had a room in Wayne Manor ready for them – it didn’t take long for everyone to drift back to the Manor in particular.

Cass, sat on one of the library couches, with a book in hand, gave Lian a wave as she passed by. Lian gave her one back – and honestly, just stopping to _think_ about that was weird as hell. Lian was spending time with, being trained by, and could just _wave_ at _superheroes_.

Yeah, best not to think about it too hard. No time for an existential crisis.

She made her way out of the library, dodged past Duke, who was writing something down in a notebook whilst walking, went into the kitchen, and sat down at the kitchen island. Tim was in the kitchen, shuffling around the coffee machine. Lian watched in mild interest. How did he even function half the time? No wonder his family had to intervene in his sleep schedule.

Tim still hadn’t noticed her, so Lian pulled out her phone. She had a new message, from her dad.

**Cha: Hey, I’m omw. Training go ok?**

**Me: Yeah, I did good. My arms hurt tho :/**

**Cha: We’ll get an icepack on the way back**

**Cha: Or is it worse than normal?**

**Me: No it’s just normal achy.**

**Me: Don’t tell Jay that he’ll get worried**

**Cha: …too late?**

**Me: CHA**

**Cha: He wanted to know!!**

**Cha: Anyway I’m in Gotham now.**

**Cha: Prepare to be fussed over when we see Jason**

**Me: Goddammit**

**Me: Why are u like this**

Lian rolled her eyes at her phone. Sure, she didn’t _mind_ when Jason fussed over her – really, it was just him subtly putting more food on her plate and checking her over for injuries, which her dad did anyway, so it was more of the same – but he worried about her. It was sweet, but also a little annoying sometimes. Like, why couldn’t she just grab an icepack, eat, and move on?

“Goddammit Cha.” She muttered to herself. There was a sudden yelp, and Lian looked up to see Tim clinging to a mug and looking at her in shock.

“Lian? What’re you doing here?”

“Training…?” she said quietly, “You know, kind of the main reason I’m here half the time.” She joked.

Tim frowned, rubbed at one of his eyes, and took a sip of his coffee. “But you’re only here on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. It’s Saturday.”

Lian shook her head, and kicked her legs out slightly. “Nah, it’s Sunday.” She corrected. She bit down on her lip, and tried not to laugh as Tim’s eyes widened.

“Oh _shit_ – Cassie is gonna kill me if I’m late.” He muttered, jumping up. “ _Shit_ , Kon is gonna be there as well–” he looked down at his oversized hoodie, and groaned. “Kill me _now_.”

“It’s only four o’clock.” Lian offered.

“That only gives me an hour to get to Metropolis!” he said, quickly downing the coffee from his mug, as quickly as possible.

“When did you last _sleep_?” Lian asked, as she watched Tim quickly throw the mug into one of the sinks, and do something to the coffee machine. She didn’t know, she had picked up a preference for tea from Jason.

“Fuck if I know.” Tim muttered. He ran out of the kitchen, dodged past someone, and yelled “Has anyone seen my bike helmet!?”

Lian watched him go, rolling her eyes. She did not envy the amount of sleep Tim lost.

“What’s got him so riled up?” a familiar voice said, and then her dad poked his head into the kitchen.

“He’s late for something?” Lian guessed, shrugging. “I don’t know. He forgot what day it was.”

“And this is why we need to keep a consistent sleep schedule. And don’t pretend you do – I _know_ you’ve been staying up to, like, three.” Her dad said, beckoning her over. “Come on, let’s go. Jason said he needs help with dinner, and we know he doesn’t trust me.”

“With good reason.” Lian said, jumping off the stool. She was still a little too short to sit on the stools against the kitchen island properly, so she had to jump. “At least you’re not as bad as Bruce, he apparently messed up a tuna sandwich, once.”

“Again, fed you for fourteen years. And you’re not dead yet.”

“Only because of Jason and Alfred.”

“You’re totally not trying to commit patricide, huh.”

Lian shot him a confused look as they waved to Alfred, and made their way out the door. “Patricide…?”

“Murdering one’s father.” Roy explained, walking over to Jason’s bike. He’d zeta’d over from Star City, and you couldn’t exactly bring a car through the zetas. So, her dad had taken Jason’s bike. Not that Lian was complaining. She _loved_ that thing.

“Oh, that.” Lian pulled on her helmet, and dropped her bag on the gravel driveway as her dad handed her motorbike jacket over. (It’d been a present for her fourteenth birthday. She kind of already had one, but it was just one of Damian’s from when he’d been thirteen. She honestly really liked her own a lot better, it fit her better, and it was bright red.) (Which might’ve been another safety thing, now that she thought about it… like those high vis vests…) “Yeah, definitely. You’re not safe.”

“I’m quaking in my boots.” Her dad responded flatly. “Come on, get your bag on. I’ll get this thing started.”

* * *

Lian’s week wasn’t exactly _clockwork_. There was plenty of variation. She went over to friends’ places after school sometimes, ever since the news about Jason and her dad had come out; he’d been popping up more and more often, and her training sessions were plenty varied. The only thing that was extremely routine was _when_ she trained, and the archery practice on Sundays.

Somehow, _somehow_ , though, the week blew past quickly, and sooner than she realised, Lian was stood in front of the mirror in Jason’s room – it was on the inside of his closet, the only long mirror in the apartment – and trying to adjust the sleeves of her dress for Dick and Wally’s wedding. She _liked_ her dress and all, it was red and had a floaty skirt which was fun to twirl in, but it’d been bought _before_ she’d started any training, and it didn’t exactly fit around her arms anymore.

There was a knock on the door as Lian tried pushing the short sleeves up. “You good in there, Princess?” her dad called.

“Fine!” Lian called back. “My damn dress is too _tight_ on my arms!”

There was a pause, and then a quiet snicker.

“You’re laughing at me! You dick!”

“I – _hey,_ ” her dad said, clearly trying not to giggle. “First, language. Second, if it makes you feel any better, it’s–”

“Just part of being an archer, I know.” Lian sighed. “I’m dressed, though.”

Her dad opened the door, wearing a plain black suit, with a red tie that matched her dress. He was actually wearing sleeves, for once. He grinned at the scene. “Aw, I remember when that first happened to me.”

Lian fought the urge to flip him her middle finger, and fiddled with her sleeves again. “Don’t be _mean_ then.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Her dad said, grin still stuck firmly on his face. “Okay, lemme see those sleeves. I’ll see if I can loosen them at all.”

Lian frowned, but extended her arm. “How? You can’t sew.”

“Uh, yes I can.” He responded, pulling at the hem of her sleeve. “You’ve seen me do it.”

“Sewing up wounds isn’t like fabric.”

“It… surprisingly is, actually.”

Lian sighed, and went to say something, before her dad went “Aha! There we go.” And showed her the sleeve. It was significantly looser, and when Lian flexed slightly, it was a lot comfier.

“Better?”

“…Do my other sleeve?”

“Of course. We better make this quick though, Jason can’t fight with his tie forever. And you know what he’s like when he’s ready to go.”

Soon enough; Lian’s sleeves were loose, she gave her hair a final brush through, Roy fixed Jason’s wonky tie, and they were all climbing into the car. The wedding was happening at some nice church Lian had never been to. Neither her nor her dad were exactly religious, and neither were Dick or Wally, so why they were getting married in a _church_ was kinda lost on her, but oh well.

“What’re the odds something goes wrong?” Roy asked, tapping the wheel rhythmically. Jason made a non-committal noise.

“You mean wrong because it’s a wedding, wrong as in there’s an Arkham breakout, or wrong because it’s us?”

“Hm. All of them?”

“First one, no way.” Lian piped up from her place in the backseat. “Alfred would murder a man if anything went wrong. And no one wants to make him mad.”

“True, true.” Jason agreed. “Unlikely, then. Second one?”

“Didn’t B mention something about increased security for today?” Roy said, tapping the wheel to the beat of the quiet music playing. “Or did I just make that up?”

“He might’ve done. Let’s just hope it’s unlikely.”

“Number three?” Lian asked.

“Oh, _definitely._ ” Roy said, grinning. “Half the fucking Justice League is there. It’ll be _chaos_.”

Lian grinned herself, thinking about the amount of people that’d be there. She wasn’t going to admit it, but she was excited about how _Wonder Woman_ might be there. And, possibly, even better, Wonder _Girl_. It was one thing knowing she _might_ meet her one day, but possibly meeting her _that day_? Lian felt a little giddy.

She looked out the window, and watched Gotham fall away. They were technically still in the city, but the venue was on the outskirts.

They pulled up to the church building quicker than Lian expected, and before she knew what was happening, she was being ushered out of the car and into the first room of the place.

They walked into the room, and Lian suddenly felt a lot smaller. There were a _lot_ of people, the room was completely bursting with them. And it didn’t help that a good number of those people were tall as _hell_ , and Lian, decisively, was not.

“We don’t have long until they show up,” her dad said quietly. “Lian, sweetie, we need to–”

“Go do best man things?” Lian guessed, looking around for Damian. He’d promised he’d find her for the wedding, but he was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t _that_ short compared to everyone else, where was he?

“You got it.” Jason said, going to ruffle her hair, before she caught his wrist, and glared. No. She’d bothered to make her hair look nice; Jason did _not_ get to ruin it. Affection intended or not. He drew his hand back, and quickly pointed her in the direction of Tim, who was thankfully in sight.

“Alright, see ya, Cha, bye Dad.” She said, about to walk towards Tim, when there was an interesting noise from behind her. She turned to see Jason – Roy had already left – staring at her with wide eyes.

“What did you just call me?” he asked, sounding a little shellshocked.

“…Jason?” she said, quickly realising just what she’d said, and suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.

“ _Jaybird_ , come _on_ , babe!” her dad’s voice called, and then Jason was giving her a weird look, waving, and then he was off.

Lian looked around nervously. Okay. She could do this. Tim was right there. She just needed to go up to him and say hi. Ask him if he’d seen Damian or Jon.

She walked in the general direction of Tim, not really looking up, keeping her eyes on her feet to make sure she didn’t trip on anyone else’s, and that’s exactly when she nearly did.

She almost crashed headfirst into a woman’s stomach, and immediately had an apology on her tongue, when she looked up, and all her words left her.

Because Lian had just crashed. Into. Motherfucking. _Wonder Girl._ She’d know that face anywhere, and she’d _especially_ recognise it up close and with all her blonde hair loose around her shoulders. Oh god.

“Woah, didn’t see you there, kid.” She said, and holy shit, holy shit, holy _shit_ , Wonder Girl was talking to her! _To Lian!_ Quick, she had to say something that made her look cool and smart –

“Uh…” she said. _Shit!_ “M-my bad?” she managed, her voice squeaking slightly on the last word.

“Oh!” she snapped her fingers. “I _know_ you! I knew you looked familiar. You’re that kid that Tim told us about, right? Bullseye, or something. Was thinking you looked familiar.”

Lian felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Tim had told Wonder Girl about her. Wonder Girl had known about her. Wonder Girl _had_ _heard_ about her. Was she dead? She was dead, right?

“I’m les – _Lian!_ ” she squeaked. Oh _god_. Had she really nearly just said her name was _lesbian_ in front of _Wonder Girl_? Kill her. Right now. “I – uh, Tim is kind of, like, my sort of – I don’t – he’s sort of my uncle, sorta?” oh _god_ oh _god oh god_ Wonder Girl was looking at her weirdly and –

She laughed. Lian wanted to jump up and down and curl up and die at the same time. Was she laughing _at her_?

“Timmy? An uncle? How’d that happen?” she joked. “I’m guessing you’re not Dick’s kid…” she shrugged. “And you can’t be Jason’s, you’re too cute for that.”

Lian felt her soul leave her body. Was she _actually_ going to die? Right here, right now? Was that light just from the ceiling, or was it the gates of heaven opening up to her?

“I – um,” she stuttered. Oh, good _lord_ , she was embarrassing herself. “I – he, Jason isn’t my dad!” Oh god. Could she actually die now, please? “Cha – _my_ dad, is, um, his boyfriend.”

Wonder Girl nodded. “Ah, I see. Oh, I’m Cassie, by the way. Speaking of your… kind of family?” she guessed. Lian nodded quickly. “Have you seen Tim? I promised him I’d come looking better than him, we have a whole competition going on.” She said, gesturing to her blue-silver dress. She did look _really_ pretty in it.

“I… he’s, um, behind you.” Lian said quietly, not really sure where to look. Did she look at her eyes? But too much eye-contact was creepy – fuck! What was she meant to do!?  
  


Wonder G – _Cassie_ , blinked, twisted, and swore when she saw Tim was, indeed, right behind her. “Oh for – come on then, let’s see who’s dressed better. Of course, he’ll vouch for _Kon_.” She muttered. “Oh, hey!” she said, face lighting up in a smile. “We need a neutral party to judge, come on!”

Lian suddenly felt Cassie take her wrist – sweet _lord_ that grip was strong – and she was being dragged into a small circle of people, consisting of Tim, a guy much taller than him, and a guy a little shorter than him. And Cassie. Woah.

“So, Timmy, you never told me you had a _niece_.” Cassie said, grinning. Tim blinked as his two other friends laughed, and then he looked down a little, and saw Lian.

“ _Oh_. Yeah, pretty much. How’re you doing, Li?”

Lian fidgeted. This was _cool_ , but also kinda weird. Because on one side, she had _Cassie_ , which, _wow_ , and on the other, Tim, who she _knew_ and had seen get tangled in his own grappling wire before. (He’d been extremely sleep deprived, at the time. What was funnier was when he fell _asleep_ whilst still tangled.) and two people she’d never met before. The juxtaposition was just… weird.

“I mean, I met Wonder Girl.” She said softly. “That’s pretty cool.”

Tim snorted, and his friends laughed louder, and Lian felt a small lump of pride in her chest. She had more control over the situation now, hell yes!

Cassie blinked down at her. “Fucking _hell,_ Tim, you weren’t joking. I’m in civvies, as well!”

“Aaaaaanyway.” The shorter guy said, “I’m Bart, and if we think about it hard enough, we’re related.” He said, and damn, he talked _quickly_. “And this is Kon.” He said, jabbing his thumb at the guy next to him.

Lian blinked. “…We’re related?” she asked weakly, and Tim rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t think about it too much. That’s just a good general rule to have with Bart, but basically, he’s…” Tim trailed off. “Okay, one second, he’s Wally’s _cousin_ , and Wally is marrying Dick, and Jason is our brother, and he’s dating your dad, so…”

Jesus. “Yeah, I won’t think about it.” Lian said, and that managed to get a laugh out of Bart.

“Don’t we have an outfit competition to pick the winner of?” Kon said, grinning widely in a way that reminded Lian very sharply of…

“Are you Jon’s brother?” she asked suddenly, and then she felt bad because he looked a little shocked, before he grinned again and laughed.

“Oh my god, Clark was right, we _do_ look similar.”

“ _Super_ similar.” Tim said, elbowing his side gently.

“Terrible,” Kon said, smiling widely at Tim. “I love it.”

“Ugh,” Cassie said, rolling her eyes, resting her elbow on Lian’s shoulder, and holy shit, she was gonna die. “just get a room already!”

Tim’s face flushed bright red, matching his suit. “ _Hey_ , Cassie! Young ears!”

“Who’s winning this outfit battle anyway?” Bart asked, physically sticking his head between the two of them, moving so quickly that he blurred. Oh, he was Wally’s cousin… was superspeed genetic, then?

Lian looked at Tim’s plain, dark red suit, Kon’s normal suit with a leather jacket (with all sorts of cool pins, patches and spikes on it, Lian approved) over the top, Bart’s pale blue suit, which looked _straight_ out of the 1980’s, and at Cassie’s long, silvery blue dress. She might be slightly biased, but… Cassie did look the best.

“Cassie wins.” Lian said, grinning at the suddenly horrifically offended expression on Bart’s face.

“What? _How?_ ” he spluttered, over Tim, Cassie, and Kon’s laughter.

Then there was a sudden shout, over the general hubbub of noise.

“Lian? We need _Lian Harper_ , over by the door. _Liiiiiiaaaaaaaan_.” A voice that sounded like Steph’s called. Regrettably, Lian slipped away from the still laughing group, and made her way through the crowd. It was, indeed, Steph, in a red dress, similar to Lian’s. She was one of the bridesmaids, and Lian was the flower girl, so it made sense they’d be dressed in the same way. Cass stood next to her, in a suit, and with a red tie, Babs sat next to both of them in her wheelchair, also in a red dress. Everyone was wearing red, huh?

“ _There_ you are.” Steph said. “Come on, we’ve gotta get you your flowers. I did not pass on my favourite dress for nothing.”

“She was very upset.” Cass said quietly, fiddling with the edge of her suit jacket. “She might’ve cried, a little bit.”

Steph gasped. “Cass! Cassandra! _Babe!_ ” she splayed a hand over her heart. “I cannot _believe_ you would _betray_ me like this–”

Cass rolled her eyes, and pressed a small kiss to Steph’s cheek, quickly followed by a “Shh.”

Babs rolled her eyes as she leant forwards in her chair to start rolling herself forwards. “Those two, I swear. I feel like I’m their _mom_ sometimes.”

“It might just be a Batgirl thing?” Lian suggested, before quickly finding herself needing to bat off Babs’s hand from her hair. What _was_ it with these people and hair ruffling?!

* * *

It didn’t take long for everything to suddenly just start _happening_. Before she knew it, Lian was walking down the aisle, scattering flower petals, and standing next to her dad and Jason, or ‘the best men’, whatever that meant, near the altar… pedestal… _thing_ … she felt half in a daze as Dick was suddenly at the altar, grinning at Wally, beginning to say the vows.

All of a sudden, Lian felt a stone drop into her stomach. Something was off. Something was _wrong_.

She looked around the room uneasily. What _was_ it? She sent a look at her dad and – no, she hadn’t imagined it. Something was off, and her dad could tell too.

There was a sudden crash from outside, and Lian jumped. Thankfully, she didn’t make any noise. Dick had trailed off, and everyone was silent.

Then, several things happened at once. Lian wasn’t sure which happened first.

The doors and windows all broke, Lian could see and hear the broken glass fall around her as she was suddenly shoved to the ground. Instinct took over and she rolled to her hands and knees, and crawled to the altar and hid behind it. She didn’t have a fucking clue what was happening.

She was vaguely aware of someone yelling “Get down!” and someone that sounded like Dick saying “Oh for _fuck’s sake_ –”, and a whole lot of yelling and crashing. But this was fine, right? It’d all be over in a second. There were superheroes here.

There was a sudden thump from above, closer than all the crashing, and Lian saw Jon fall, and land in front of her heavily. He groaned, and pushed himself up on his elbows.

“Jon?” she asked, because he just _fell_ from, like, the _ceiling_ , and she was aware he could fly but Jesus Christ this was weird this was so weird and it was _scary_ because she didn’t even know what was fucking _happening_ –

“Lian?” Jon asked, blinking at her. “Oh f – this is not good. This is not freaking good.”

“What the fuck,” she asked, breathing heavily, because her heartbeat was _too_ fucking loud, and she was flinching at those loud noises, “is happening?”

“Uh.” Jon responded, and then his eyes were widening, and he was gone, the only trace of him being a gust of wind in Lian’s face.

Okay, fuck this.

She stood up, as quickly as she dared, and whipped around to see the scene behind her. It was _chaos_. She could barely tell what was happening, aside from that there were people she cared about, still in their formal wear, fighting, mostly everyone having brought along their weapons, because of _course_. And…

God. What the fuck were _those_?

Lian ducked as something sailed over her head and flew out the open hole in the stained-glass windows. Okay, okay, no time to question what those things were, aside from looking like ten-foot-tall metal worms.

Quick, think, Harper, _think_.

She needed something she could throw. She was better with a bow, but she didn’t exactly have one right now. And her aim in general was good – okay, _quick_ –

Glass. Broken glass. It was all over the floor, she might’ve actually cut her knee on a bit, but she didn’t have time to worry about that right now. She picked a larger piece out of the carpet, and quickly gaged its weight. It was heavy, decent enough for a projectile.

She jumped up again, and quickly looked for someone, _anyone_ , she knew.

There. Jason, wrestling with one of the giant worm things, it was metal, it had grooves, it had joints, she just needed to –

_Breathe, find your target, aim, and fire_.

Second groove, could be its neck, weakest point, no one in the way –

She threw the glass shard with all the precision she could manage, and watched in shock as it lodged in the groove, making the… _thing_ , cry out with a sound like metal on stone.

She ducked down again, fumbling around for another bit of glass of the same size. She quickly found one – lighter, smaller, but still good – and poked her head out again, looking for another target.

There, Steph, beating off one of them with one of her high heels, her hair falling around her face. _Breathe, pick a target, aim, fire._ The glass landed in a groove of the fat tendril that was about to take out Steph’s ankle.

It got easier. Well. Not easier. It was a rhythm. Find a piece of glass, break a larger one to get a decent shard, breathe, pick a target, aim, fire.

Breathe, pick a target, aim, fire. Breathe, pick a target, aim, fire. Breathe, pick a target, aim, fire. Breathe, breathe, _breathe._

It _wasn’t_ easy. Lian felt like every single one of her nerves was on _fire_. Breathe. Glass lodged in the red eye of one of the things, one of the Supers’ hands around it, lifting it into the air.

Her heart was a damn jackhammer, and she almost felt like she was fighting for each breath. Pick a target – there, next to Damian’s head, right behind him. When the glass landed, he didn’t hesitate to yank it right out, and start using it like a knife or a shuriken.

She knew her knees were bleeding, and her hands, and she probably had some blood on her forehead because it felt sticky and warm. Aim, right there, no, higher, just below Wonder Woman’s arm – _got it_.

Okay, maybe it was a little easy. It was easy to stay in the moment, with the movement, in the rhythm. Fire, watch the glass spin in the air as it left her fingers.

She was down on her knees again, hands scrabbling, there wasn’t – there just _wasn’t_ anymore glass. This was – no, _shit_ –

Lian blinked in confusion as a shadow passed over her. She dared to look up – and shit, shit, shit shit shit _shit_ _shitshitshitshit –_

One of the giant metal worm things was right above her, writhing, its red eyes too close, in fact – _everything_ too close.

The world suddenly spun as Lian felt something wrap around her waist and the floor disappear beneath her. Oh god. _Oh FUCK_.

Lian blinked quickly, trying to figure out if she was up or down. she wasn’t even sure where she was punching, just keeping her fists balled up and ignoring the fact that her hands were so, so red.

“ _Lian!_ ” someone yelled. She didn’t know, she was kicking and punching and screaming, and violently throwing herself around, trying literally anything that she could think of to wriggle out of the whatever-the-fuck-it-was’s hold.

An arrow sailed past her, missing the thing’s side by inches. Lian tried to twist, tried to yell, but before she could even take a breath, the thing _moved_ and she couldn’t touch the floor even if she wanted to because she was _up in the goddamn air –_

They could fly. Of course, they could fucking fly.

Somehow, she sucked in a breath, and screamed. “ _Cha!_ ” her voice getting lost in the chaos, she ducked as something – maybe a bullet, perhaps rubber or metal, she wasn’t sure – pinged off of the metal skin of the worm thing, she needed one of the people with super strength, she needed someone who could actually _fight_ this thing and not just shoot at it –

Then she was moving, _being_ moved, and then she was weightless as the world spun.

Had she just been fucking _thrown_?!

Something slammed into her back, her temple sung in pain, and then the world was dark.

* * *

Everything ached. Her head, especially. She didn’t even want to _think_ about moving.

Everything was dark, and quiet. Not silent. Something was rumbling softly in the distance. Her ears were also ringing, a little bit. She was cold. And… felt gross. Crusty was a good word for it, which, ew, but it was accurate. It was probably all the dried blood. She reckoned she was on the floor, judging by how that side was all pressed up against something hard, and uncomfortable.

She flexed her fingers, just slightly. They ached, and one clicked, the sound as loud as a gunshot to her ears. She took in a shuddering breath, and bit down on her lip. _Fuck,_ how did her _teeth_ hurt?

Lian dared to crack open her eyes. It… wasn’t very bright. Wherever she was. But she reckoned if it was, it would’ve made her head hurt more. Small blessings, as Dinah always said. Small blessings. She blinked again, trying to see where she was.

It was – well, she had no idea. It was a big room, high ceilings. Shelves. A lot of them. Linoleum floors. Metal walls. Was this a warehouse?

As she scanned her eyes across what small corner she had visuals on, she realised with a jolt that she was not alone. There was another figure, slumped against the wall.

A figure… in dress shoes?

Wait. _Jason_. Why was Jason here? Where even _was_ here?

You know what? It didn’t matter. She needed to… not cry. First of all. Do not cry. Keep calm, figure it out.

Okay. Not crying. She _would not cry_. Okay. What now? Jason was unconscious, which wasn’t good. But, even if Lian strained her ears, there was nothing else to be heard, aside from the odd car from far away. (Near a road, she’ll try and remember that.) so it seemed like it was just him and her. So, it might be safe to wake him up.

She flexed her wrists. Could still move them – good. Stretched her arms, her legs, rolled over onto her front. It hurt like a _bitch_ , and she might’ve gasped a little, but she could move. And yeah, she definitely cut her knees and hands, but it was fine. She could work around it.

She paused. Would she be able to stand up? Walk? Best not to risk it. She crawled over instead, her knees crying out in protest. Jason was still pretty firmly unconscious. How could she wake him up?

“Jay.” She whispered. “Jason!” she added, a little more desperately. Jason didn’t move. Fuck.

“ _Jason_ ,” she repeated, poking him in the side. “Jay, Jason, Red Hood, Jaybird, Robin, _Jason_.” Running through every name or nickname he’d ever responded to that she could remember.

Jason groaned lowly, and Lian felt like cheering. He stirred a little, before he stiffened, and his eyes blinked open. He stared at Lian for a second, eyes unfocused, before he blinked, and he was back.

“Who’re you calling me _Robin_?” he muttered, and Lian sighed in relief. “Oh, Jesus _fuck_ – where are we? Are you okay?”

“Um, I don’t know.” Lian whispered. When everything was so quiet, it just felt wrong to talk normally. “I don’t know where we are,” she said, and fuck, her voice was shaking. Keep it _together,_ Harper. “and I’m a little hurt. But I’m okay. I can move, and I don’t think I’m injured.”

“But are you _okay_?” Jason pressed. “Like, are you gonna have a panic attack or anything? Because _I’m_ freaking a little. So, are – are you?”

Lian paused. Her heart was thumping in her chest, and she felt small, and shaky, and –

“No.” she lied. “I’m okay.”

And she was gonna have to fight through it. Get safe, then panic.

“Okay,” Jason said, struggling to his feet, pulling himself up with one hand on the wall. “let’s get out of this place.”

Lian took the hand he offered, and pulled herself up. Yeah, _ow_. She was gonna need to get her knees patched up. And also, her hands. And something on her forehead was throbbing a bit.

Jason pressed a hand to his ear, and frowned. “Fuck, I hate the earpieces. Helmets are so much easier.” He joked. He was trying to lighten the tension, Lian realised. It only worked a little bit. “Hey, do me a favour, can you start looking around? Don’t touch anything, just let me know if there’s anything out of the ordinary.”

Lian nodded, and looked around, going to the nearest shelf as Jason added “And stay where I can see you!”

“Alright, _Dad_.” Lian muttered, mostly to herself.

The shelves were mostly empty, really. Just boxes, which she wasn’t allowed to touch, so she left those alone.

“Come on, come on, work you little–” Jason muttered, and then “Piece of _shit_ – _oh hi Oracle._ ” Lian snorted as Jason was suddenly stuttering through an apology.

“No – I didn’t mean, _O_ , come on. Look, we’re kinda in a serious situation right now. Yeah. _We._ I’m with Bullseye. Think you can track us?”

Lian went to the next shelf, and paused. It was muffled, and coming from a box, but there was a weird noise.

“No, I don’t know why we’re here. There’s no sign of the fuckers… is everyone safe? Is Arsenal?”

It kind of sounded like ticking. But not like on a clock, more like beeping – _oh_ , like on one of those digital timers –

Wait.

Oh. Oh no.

“Jason?” Lian said, her voice coming out a lot more strangled than she would’ve liked. “Jason, I think…” she trailed off. There was no way, right? She was definitely making this up. Hearing things. Right? _Right_? That didn’t make _sense_ , why would there be –

Jason ran over and took her by the shoulders, gently, and turned her around so she was facing him. “What is it?” he asked, and he looked afraid now. Which wasn’t exactly helping Lian’s own heartrate.

“I think there’s a bomb.” She said, softly. And Jason froze, his grip on her shoulders going tight, he went completely still. The only thing she could hear was the fucking _ticking_.

“Pass – pass me the box.” Jason said, voice quiet. He let go of Lian’s shoulders, but his movements were slow, and halting. Oh god. This wasn’t good.

Lian turned around slowly, and took the box from the shelf, and handed it to Jason, holding it as gingerly as she could. As if it were about to explode at any wrong movement. Because it kind of would.

Jason whipped out a bat shaped… thing, from… somewhere, and split open the box with the sharp end. He sucked in a sharp breath when he opened it.

“Lian.” He said shakily. “I – don’t freak out.”

“Only if you don’t.” she said quietly.

He swallowed, and nodded. “Okay. No promises. Because there is actually a bomb.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. We’ve got fifteen minutes.”

“ _Oh_.” Lian was… surprisingly calm. Okay. There was a bomb. A _fucking_ bomb. Okay. Okay. _Okay_.

“Oracle. Did you catch that?” Jason said, shakily. “I – I don’t.” he closed his eyes, and shuddered. “I can’t–”

He was about to freak out. Okay. Okay, how could she stop that?

She slipped her small hand into Jason’s large one, and squeezed. Jason normally squeezed back, but this time, he didn’t.

Suddenly, Jason’s hand was pressing something into her hand, and was sitting on the floor, pressing his face into his hands.

Lian blinked. She opened her hand, and saw Jason’s earpiece. She could feel the small vibrations against her skin; someone was talking. Hesitantly, she pressed it against her ear.

“-ood, _Hood_ , are you with me?” a familiar voice asked. Barbara. Babs.

“Um.” Lian said. There was a pause.

“…Bullseye?” Babs asked. She had a thing about comms, that Lian had picked up on quickly. Only codenames could be used, just in case someone hacked in and listened.

“Hi, Oracle.” Lian said quietly. “Uh, J – _Red Hood_ , is kind of…” she looked at Jason again. He wasn’t moving, well, he was shaking. But Lian was guessing it wasn’t voluntary. “…acting strange. I think he’s freaking out.”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised.” Babs muttered. “Okay, Bullseye, is Hood talking to you?”

Lian paused. “Jay?” she called. Jason didn’t respond.

“No.” Lian told Babs. “He’s, um, like all curled up, and he’s shaking. What – what do I do?”

Babs didn’t get the chance to say anything, before Lian was continuing. “I mean – there’s a _bomb_ , Jay – _Hood_ , isn’t responding, and I don’t know where we _are_.”

“Bullseye.” Babs voice said, clear and distinct, cutting through Lian’s mess of thoughts. “I’m going to need you to do something for me. Okay?”

Lian swallowed, nodded. “O-okay. What is it?”

“I’m going to need you to get Jason to stand up.” Babs, said, her voice shockingly calm. Lian inhaled shakily, and made a noise of agreement.

Babs kept talking, not to Lian, but in general. Lian barely noticed it. She was focused on getting Jason to stand – it wasn’t entirely easy, he was a large guy, and Lian was only small. She managed to get him to his knees by wrapping her arms around his ribs and under his shoulders, and pulling him up. Then he shakily stood up on his own, keeping his hand around Lian’s. It was – it was weird. His eyes were open, but they weren’t seeing anything. He wasn’t really… _there_.

But that was fine. Scary as fuck, but fine.

“B – Oracle?” Lian whispered, keeping her grip on Jason’s hand tight. “He’s stood up now.”

“Okay, that’s great, you’re doing _great_ , Bullseye. Can you see the clock on the bomb?”

“Yes.” She looked at the red numbers, luminous in the half-darkness.

“How long do you have left?”

“…Twelve minutes.”

“Okay, okay.” There was a pause. “Yeah, they’re in Gotham, uninjured, Hood is dissociating. Bullseye is doing okay. She’s functioning.”

“Oracle?”

“Yes?”

“What do I do next?”

Babs exhaled lightly. “Okay. Uh, how big is the warehouse?”

“It’s… it’s big.” Lian said, “I can’t–” she squeezed Jason’s hand tighter. God, _please_ respond, Jason, _please_ – “I can’t see the other end.”

“Christ.” Babs muttered. “Okay. Get to the other end. Bring Jason with you. Whilst you’re walking, I want you to tell me if you see a door. Alright?”

“Alright.” Lian muttered, “Come on, Jay, we’ve gotta move.”

The warehouse got darker as Lian walked, Jason stumbling as he walked behind her, one hand wrapped around his, the other hand pressing the earpiece to her ear.

God. This – this was the most terrifying situation Lian had ever been. And she was calm. Well – no. She was freaking the fuck out. But she was – it wasn’t at the front of her brain, if that made sense. She felt like she was in the centre of a hurricane. Eye of the storm, or whatever the phrase was.

There were no doors. Lian felt a cold, heavy weight drop into her stomach. “O-Oracle?”

“Yes, Bullseye? Found a door?”

“I’m at the other end. There’s no door.”

“…What?”

“There’s no _door._ ”

And there wasn’t. It was just smooth, metal walls. And Lian knew she’d spent a lot of time getting Jason over to this side of the damn thing, and they were running out of _time_ –

“Okay, okay, Bullseye. Are there any windows?”

“W… windows?”

“Yes. Windows. Are there any?”

“There’s – there’s, um,” keep it together, Harper, _keep it together –_ “there’s kind of windows. They’re – they’re like, uh, slits. And really high up.”

Babs made a weird sound, and Lian realised she was sucking on her teeth. “Ah, okay. Are you in a corner?”

“No?”

“Check one out. You might be on a second floor. There should be a ladder, or something, if you are.”

To Lian’s relief, there was. Now she had to get Jason down it.

To her surprise, despite not really… being there, Jason could still move. He was down the ladder without Lian even asking verbally. She had no idea if this was usual for when people floated off, or if Jason was just special, or if it was all that Bat training, or _whatever_.

Lian dropped down the ladder quickly, desperate to get out. There was no light whatsoever on this level, Lian needed to hold on to Jason anyway, but it still made her feel better.

“Are you still there?” Babs asked, her voice loud in Lian’s ear, making her jump.

“Yes, I got down a ladder.”

“Okay, okay, can you see anything?”  
  


“No. It’s – it’s really dark. I’m just holding onto J – _Hood_.”

“Stay where you are. There should be–”

There was a sudden sound of glass breaking; and Lian yelped. She dropped the earpiece, and it clattered to the floor. She ducked down, and grabbed it from the floor, her nails scratching against the linoleum.

When she pressed it against her ear, there was suddenly a familiar voice that wasn’t Babs speaking into her ear.

“Bullseye, where are you?” her dad asked, and the mere sound of his voice made Lian want to sob in relief. “We’re in the warehouse. Batman is taking care of the bomb. Where are you and Hood?”

“Downstairs.” Lian said, and she would be lying if her voice didn’t break. “We – we went down a ladder.”

“Stay where you are. It’s okay, we’re here now.”

A light shone down from the ladder, and then a dark shape, dressed in red –

“ _Cha._ ” Lian said brokenly. Roy jumped down from the ladder, and before Lian knew what was happening, she was pressing her face into her dad’s shoulder, his arms wrapped around her, and his hair brushing over her forehead.

“Hey, _con yêu._ ” He muttered, hand rubbing over her back. “It’s okay, I’m here now.”

Lian’s throat tightened. She wouldn’t cry. She _wouldn’t_. she managed to choke out “ _Jason_ ,” before the first sob caught her.

“Batman’ll be down here soon, it’s okay.” Her dad repeated, like a broken record. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He half sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Lian.

The hand from her back disappeared, and Lian hoped it was going to Jason’s own hand or something. But she didn’t know. And she didn’t really care. Her knees and hands stung and throbbed, and everything ached, and her dad was _here_ now, and Jason could come back, and Batman, _Bruce_ , was just upstairs, getting rid of the fucking _bomb_ –

She clung onto him, and finally, let herself cry.

* * *

It was raining, once they finally stepped out of the warehouse. And not just drizzling. It was absolutely pouring down, great sheets of water cascading down from the sky.

Jason came to when the water first hit his face. He gasped, and jerked, and let out a strangled half-scream, until Bruce took him into his arms, and wrapped the cape around him. It barely took any time at all for Roy to gently place Lian down, and wrap his own arms around Jason from the back. It took about five seconds of hesitation from Lian herself to join in, pressing her face against his side.

And it didn’t take long for the heavy weight of Bruce’s cape to slide over her shoulders too. They were all wrapped in it, surrounding Jason, keeping him safe, as the rain lashed down.

* * *

Lian would feel bad about dripping blood on the Batmobile, if she weren’t fucking exhausted. All the dried blood on her hands and knees had washed away into liquid from the rain, and she was sat in the front of the Batmobile, next to fucking Batman, soaking wet, bloody, and ready to fall asleep.

When did her life get this fucking weird?

Jason was in the backseat, leaning against her dad, and blinking sporadically. He still wasn’t quite… around. But he was better than before. He could talk, now. And occasionally say something, but it was mostly just muttering. Lian didn’t catch much, aside from the word ‘ _alive_ ’ over and over again.

Her dad was half asleep, also. Lian could relate.

There was a thin sheet of glass between the front and back seats. It was more for security, because the damn thing was bulletproof, but Bruce mentioned it was also pretty soundproof, so it gave Jason and her dad some privacy to talk to one another.

And it left Lian feeling a little alone. She liked Bruce, she did, but it was kind of hard to talk to him.

“What,” she began, and to her horror, her voice was raspy and hoarse. It’d been all that damn crying she swore she wasn’t going to do…

“What happened to Jason?” Bruce guessed. Lian nodded, keeping her eyes on the window. It was easier to talk when you didn’t have to look.

The warehouse had been somewhere near Gotham, just on the outskirts, just on the outside of the outskirts, whatever. She didn’t know. And kind of didn’t care.

“Yeah. He just… went away. It was scary.” She explained softly.

“It can be scary when people dissociate.” Bruce said. “Dissociating. That’s what it’s called when people… what did you describe it as?”

“Going away?”

“Yeah. That.”

Lian fidgeted. “Is it…” she trailed off. “Scary? When people go?”

“You mean for the people dissociating?” he hummed softly when Lian nodded. “It can be. But it happens when a situation is too scary, or traumatic, or reminds someone of trauma. All the emotions and experiences are too much for the brain to deal with, so it shuts off. It’s a brain protecting itself. Sometimes people go deep, sometimes they don’t.”

“Did something traumatic happen to Jason?” she kind of already knew the answer, it seemed like everyone had something shitty happen in their past.

Bruce was silent for a moment, before sighing heavily. “Jesus, what _didn’t_? Jason…” he paused. “…died.”

Wait. What?

“But – he’s not dead?”

Bruce sighed. “No. He’s not. Not anymore.”

Lian blinked. Jason… died. _Was_ dead. Not anymore. He… Lian was pretty sure that _death_ wasn’t something you could recover from that easily.

“But you can’t _come back from the dead_.” Lian protested weakly.

Bruce paused, before exhaling slightly. “Damian’s best friend is a half alien that can fly. Dick was about to get married to a man with superspeed. I dress up as a _bat_ to fight crime with my kids. Coming back from the dead is hardly the weirdest thing about any of this.”

Lian snorted, despite herself. “Cha goes and shoots arrows at criminals at night. And he’s one of the normal ones.”

Bruce nodded, and in the reflection of the window, Lian saw him smile. “He is. Kind of sad, huh?”

“Kind of cool, if you ask me.” Lian responded, wiping a hand over one of her knees. It came away sticky. Yikes. Good thing they were going to the Batcave, she’d probably get patched up there. But still…

“How is, uh, Jason… not… dead?” she asked, fidgeting slightly.

Bruce sighed heavily, and Lian saw eyes moving under the cowl, looking up at the rear-view mirror. Because, yes, even the Batmobile had one. “That’s… not exactly my story to tell.” He said, sounding unsure. And that was a _weird_ tone to hear coming from Batman. “He probably won’t be too pleased with me even telling you. But I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”

Lian nodded, and looked down at her scraped knees in the dark, the only real light coming from the passing streetlights, dimmed slightly by the rain crashing down around them.

“How did the… metal, snake, worm things, go?”

“Not well, considering they mostly got away. No one died. A few injured. Everyone is at the Cave.”

“…Everyone?”

“ _Everyone_. I won’t lie to you, it’s a bit of a nightmare.”

Lian snorted. It might’ve been because of how tired she was, but it was just so _funny_. Yes, of course Batman would find it nightmarish that so many people that weren’t his kids were sat in his basement. When stuff like one of his kids, and… whatever Lian was to him, had gotten stuck in a warehouse with a bomb. Yes. Of _course_.

“Are you laughing?”

“… _no_.” Lian said, grin tugging at her mouth.

So. Jason had died. That – she – okay, she had questions, but the ache in her bones and the steady motion of the Batmobile was enough to make her feel sleepy.

She leant back against the seat, and let her eyes close. Bruce wouldn’t be mad if she fell asleep, right?

* * *

As it turns out, Bruce was not mad. He even smiled a little when she woke up, confusedly asking why it was so bright if it was night time. It took her a second or two to realise she was in the garage part of the Batcave, and it was bright because of the lights.

Stepping into the actual Batcave, behind Bruce, and behind Jason, who’s hand was curled into her dad’s, was a little… overwhelming. It wasn’t because of the adults in front of her, no, she was half hiding behind them. It was… well, the adults that weren’t. She’d asked if Babs was in there, really the only person she wanted to see, but apparently, she was still in the Watchtower. But for those who _were_ in the Cave…

The table in the middle was full, for a start. People were scattered around, sat on the floor, or floating, because of course. And there was an immediate reaction to their arrival, in the form of a small cacophony of noise.

“Lian!” a familiar voice said, and then Jon was right next to her, floating off the ground slightly. He looked dishevelled, but honestly, who didn’t? “Are you okay? We don’t really know what happened–”

“Jon.” An older man – who Lian slowly realised was Jon’s dad, and therefore _Superman_ – said, in a warning tone of voice, and Jon blinked a little, and smiled guiltily.

“I’ll ask you later.” He said, smiling apologetically, before flying off to talk to another boy hanging in mid-air. Lian doubted she’d ever get used to that.

“Lian? Come on, kiddo.” Her dad said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We’re going into the med bay. Okay? We gotta check you and Jason over for injuries.” He said, side stepping around a dark-haired woman sat on the floor, talking to Cassie.

Lian blinked at him. “But I’m not injured.” She protested. “I’m fine!”

“Yeah, good luck pulling that with this bunch.” Her dad said, tugging her into the med bay. “You know how often these damn Bats just straight up deny being hurt? No one believes it anymore.”

So, despite all her protesting, Lian was dragged into the med bay. It made sense to check _Jason_ for injuries, because she knew he wasn’t the type to tell anyone when he was hurt, and he was still dissociating a little, so he probably wouldn’t be able to even _tell_. But Lian was _fine_.

“Okay, Alfred’ll be checking Jay and Bruce, so I’ll sort you out.” Her dad said, gesturing to one of the benches. “Go sit down, I’ll get some disinfectant and band-aids.”

Lian might’ve put up a fight, but she was tired, and her knees really were starting to sting now, so she did as she was told and sat down on the bench, looking down at her shoes. They’d been shiny, when the day started. Now they were kinda grimy, and scuffed. She felt the same way.

“You look like you’ve been through the wringer.” A familiar voice said. Lian looked up to see Damian standing in the doorway of the med bay, looking tired and dishevelled himself.

“You don’t exactly look great either.” Lian responded, smiling slightly. It was forced, and both of them knew it.

“No one does.” Damian muttered, before coming to sit down next to her. “I knew I hated weddings.”

Lian smirked, and looked down at her shoes again. She was probably never going to be able to wear these shoes again, huh? Which was a shame. She’d liked them.

“Yeah. They’re not great.” She whispered. “How did – um. How did… you deal?”

“With?”

  
  
“I don’t know… how old were you when something this stupidly scary happened for the first time?” she asked, kicking her feet slightly. Damian made a huffing noise from beside her.

“I couldn’t tell you that.” He said, and he sounded like he was forcing the words out. “The first time I remember… I was six. Maybe seven. That damn mountain…” Lian looked up quickly enough to see him shake his head. “It’s not really a conversation I think either of us could have right now.”

“That bad, huh?” Lian guessed.

“That bad.” Damian confirmed. “I’ll go tell Jon you’re doing okay, then? He’s asking about you.”  
  


Lian pulled a face. “Eh. Try okay-ish?”

“Will do.”

Yeah. Okay-ish. That was a pretty good way to describe how she felt. Sure, everything ached and she was bleeding and she still didn’t want to _blink_ for too long because then she’d be back in the warehouse –

But she was okay. Okay-ish.

“Don’t know how you did it.” Her dad said, coming back into view, his domino off now, holding a packet of band-aids and a small first-aid kit. “He’s still mean to like, everyone else, you’re like the only exception.” He said, shrugging, and kneeling down in front of her. “Alright, let’s get those knees cleaned up.”  
  


“It’s because I’m the only one younger than him.” Lian said, wincing slightly as the disinfectant began to sting. “It’s the older brother instinct. All the Bats have it.”

“Okay, first of all, Jon, and second, I hope you’re not implying Jason is Damian’s dad.” He joked. “Ooh, that’s a nasty one.” He commented, nodding at her right knee. “You’re gonna have scars there, if I had to guess.”

“Sick. We’ll match.” She said quietly. “And no, Jason isn’t, but that’s our _dynamic_.”

“Of course, of course. My mistake.” Her dad muttered, slowly positioning the band-aid before sticking it down. “Okay, one knee down. You want any painkillers or anything?”

“No, thanks.” She lied, but before she even got the sentence out, her dad was pressing a blister pack of ibuprofen into her hand.

“Just in case you change your mind.” he said, and Lian was glad for it. They continued like that for a bit. He’d patch up her hands and knees, and they’d talk.

By the time he’d finished her right hand, and Lian felt like she couldn’t flex anything without at least _one_ band-aid popping right off, Bart was running into the room.

“You gotta come out! Right now!” he said excitedly. “Come on, they’re actually getting married!”

“In… the Batcave?” Her dad asked, sounding doubtful.

“Why not?” Bart said, grinning, and there was a whoosh of air, and he was gone. Lian and Roy quickly followed him, and indeed, Dick and Wally were stood, facing each other, in front of the massive Batcomputer, everyone else in various shades of dishevelment shuffling around, trying to see properly. Lian didn’t miss Damian sat on Jon’s shoulders, Jon floating upwards slightly.

“Wrote a whole best man’s speech for nothing!” her dad muttered, but there was no real frustration behind it.

Alfred was stood in the middle of them, smiling, but still looking serious, somehow. Of _course,_ he was officiated, because what _couldn’t_ Alfred do?

“Alright,” he began, and Lian could see the edges of Wally’s form blurring slightly. Did _all_ speedsters vibrate when excited, or was it just him and Bart? “You’ll repeat after me.”

“I, Wally West,” Alfred began, and Lian watched as Wally nervously repeated his words, whilst grinning all the while.

“I, Wally West,”

“take you, Dick Grayson,”

“take you, Dick Grayson,”

“to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.”

Wally blinked in shock, and there was a small ripple of laughter. Dick grinned, and blinked quickly himself. Lian suspected he’d be the type to cry at weddings, but she didn’t expect him to cry at his own. She really should’ve known better.

“To be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward, until death do us part.” He grinned wider, and added, “And wherever you’re going, I’m going.”

Dick laughed, short and sharp, and quickly went to wipe at his eyes. “Oh my god, you _dick_.”

Wally’s grin didn’t falter. “No, _you’re_ the dick. We’ve established this, babe.”

“ _Boys_.” Alfred warned, and Dick quickly wiped at his eyes again, and inhaled deeply.

He quickly repeated the vows Wally had said, only with the names obviously switched. And when it came to the ending, he also added, with his own grin, “Wherever you’re going, I’m going.”

Lian wasn’t sure what that was about, but it was clearly an inside joke between the two. It was sweet, though.

“Do you, Wally West, take Dick Grayson, to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Alfred asked, and Wally’s hands quickly went to his pockets, his face quickly falling.

“Ah, _sh–_ ”

“I got ‘em!” Bart called, a ripple of air went through the crowd, with a few people making noises of protest. Wally grinned at his cousin, and held up one golden ring.

Dick rolled his eyes, but was still grinning as Wally took his hand, and slipped the ring on.

“I do.” He said, looking for all the world like the happiest guy on Earth.

“Dick Grayson, do you take Wally West to be–”

“ _I do_!” Dick said quickly, taking the ring from Wally’s hand, and slipping it onto Wally’s hand.

Alfred smiled, and said, “You may now kiss the groom.”

Dick launched forward and grabbed Wally by the front of his slightly ruined suit jacket, and pulled him into a kiss. Almost immediately, Lian found her eyes covered by her dad’s hand.

“Hey!” she protested. “I’m four _teen_ , not _four_ , you weirdo!”

There was a ripple of laughter through the cheering, and everything seemed a little more okay again.

* * *

A hot shower, a pair of pyjamas (well, it was really just an old shirt of Jason’s and a pair of Damian’s sweatpants that fit her) and a small meal of water and granola bars (she hadn’t been able to stomach much else, but Alfred had insisted she try and eat something) Lian walked into the living room to see… a deconstructed blanket fort, really.

“You’re not serious.” Lian said in disbelief, looking at the small sea of mattresses and blankets that lined the living room floor.

“Oh, this is serious.” Damian said, frowning a little at Jon, who was cheerfully bouncing up and down on one mattress, and floating a little higher each time. Lian did have to fight down a giggle or two when he spun slowly in the air, like there was no gravity. “You’d be shocked at the amount of times we’ve created a small den in here. As ridiculous as it is, it does… _help_ , to sleep with others nearby.”

Jon fell from the air – and for a horrible second Lian was back in that damn church, hiding under the altar and with Jon and broken glass falling down from everywhere and nowhere, and then she blinked, and she was back – and onto the mattress, gasping dramatically.

“What’s this? The great _Damian Wayne_ –”

“Shut up.”  
  


“– _admitting_ that he likes something?”

Damian glared half-heartedly at Jon, who was grinning widely. Lian pushed that weird moment to the back of her mind, and laughed.

“I admit I like a _great_ _many_ things, thank you very much.” Damian snapped, but there was no real venom behind it. “I enjoy the company of Titus and Alfred. The cat.”

“That doesn’t count!” Lian protested, settling down on the couch next to him. “ _Everyone_ likes your pets.”

“She’s got a point, Batboy.” Jon said, sat cross-legged in mid-air and bobbing up and down slightly. Lian didn’t think that was really on purpose, sort of like how no one stood perfectly still even when they were just standing there.

Damian rolled his eyes. “I don’t see why you both act as if I never admit enjoying anything.”

“Because you don’t.” Lian and Jon chorused, completely on accident. They locked eyes for a moment, before dissolving into laughter, whilst Damian made some sort of offended spluttering noise.

“I _do_.” He protested.

“Name _one_ thing that isn’t your pets, or being Robin.” Jon suggested.

“Or _related_ to being Robin.” Lian quickly added.

Damian gave them both a flat look, before raising his hand, and checking with his fingers. “Art, gymnastics, video games, skateboarding…”

“Hanging out with us?” Jon guessed, tilting his head and leaning forward, grin wide and mischievous.

“No, I enjoy the company of those who don’t _insult_ me.” He snapped, but there was a smile under there anyway. Lian laughed, closing her eyes as she did so and – and she was back in the warehouse, swore she could hear the steady digital ticking from the bomb –

Her eyes shot open, and she scrubbed at them with the heels of her hands.

“Lian? You good?” she wasn’t even sure who asked, but she nodded, and faked a yawn, which quickly became kinda real.

“Yeah, m’fine.” She lied. “Just tired, y’know? Think I’ll… call it a night.”

They didn’t question it, simply bade her goodnight as she crawled into a nearby mattress, next to the larger one Jason was passed out on. She laid there, for a while. Not really trying to sleep, or even closing her eyes. Just… lying there.

One by one, everyone’s voices got quieter, there was sighing, the sound of fabric moving, and eventually, near silence. Save for everyone’s breathing and soft snoring.

She probably wasn’t the last one awake. But it still felt like it. But she was safe, and warm, and Jason and her dad were right there if she needed anyone. There was a kitchen not too far away with water and food, and she was in a borrowed shirt and sweatpants which were warm and comfy.

She was safe. She still ached, and if she payed too much attention to her heartrate, she certainly wouldn’t feel it anymore, but she was. And that was good.

Lian let her eyes close, and tried to relax. After all, it’d been a _long_ day. She needed the sleep.

And if the universe would be so kind as to give her a break, well, she wouldn’t exactly say _no_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …sorry Lian D':
> 
> so, here's the thing about this fic. it's been added to a series, which means exactly what you think it does ;) (i said i wasn't done with Lian and i meant it!!)
> 
> and the next two chapters after this are more going to be one looooong chapter split into two. (and when i say long, i mean, LONG. i didn't even realise that this specific chapter was 11k for a while 0_0) probably. maybe. and there might be a small epilogue but lads!! can you believe we're nearly done?? I fuckin' can't and i'm the one writing!!
> 
> next chapter: everything is a-okay! SIKE EVERYTHING HAS GONE OFF THE RAILS A G A I N


	15. Nice Work You Did,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOOK PRETTY GOOD FOR A DEAD BITCH (they're aliiiiive!!)
> 
> Aaaaaa seriously though i'm sorry this chapter took so long!! my laptop is a real bitch and i hate it but IT'S HERE NOW! plus i started school again and THAT'S been really tiring but i'm super glad i finally have this for y'all!!
> 
> Featuring: a conversation that was needed, a game of chess, and... well fuck. Mama Mia, here we go again.
> 
> (this is like half unedited because I AM VERY EXCITED TO GET THIS OUT)

Lian woke up slowly. Normally, when she woke up slowly, it felt like she was slowly dragging herself out of a haze.

This felt more like she was fighting with herself to wake up properly.

She ached all over, and she felt… wait, her back. _Ow._ Jesus, what the hell had she done to it to make it _ache_ like that –

Oh. Yeah. She hadn’t done anything. She’d gotten thrown around like a ragdoll by weird flying worm robots. They’d hit her on the back.

She was probably gonna have an awful bruise that she’d have to explain at school. Especially if anyone noticed it whilst getting changed for gym. “ _Hey Lian, how’d you get a bright purple bruise the size of a small country on your back?” “Oh, you know, I went to my kind of uncle’s wedding. It happens._ ”

She let her head roll to the side, tired of staring at the ceiling. She should probably get up and move a bit, stretch a bit. That was good for bruises, right?

Lian slowly slipped out of her nest of blankets, and straightened up, and held in a gasp as pain shot up her spine. There were still people asleep, she _really_ didn’t need to wake them up. She grit her teeth, and tried to stand up fully.

God. She just needed some tea or something, she’d be fine.

She started picking her way through the sea of mattresses, dodging her way past the nearest one. She paused, for a second, as she realised it was occupied by her dad and Jason. It was a little weird to see Jason looking so small, under so many blankets. It didn’t help that, from what Lian could see, Roy was curled up around him like the damn octopus he was. Lian had suffered through it enough times, now Jason would. At least he was big enough to not get absolutely smothered.

Lian shook her head, felt herself smiling, and continued her small crusade to the kitchen.

Once she was actually there, she paused. She just wanted some tea, but she was the only person in here. She could totally just steal some ice cream without anyone knowing…

Nah. Alfred would know. Plus, the thought of actually eating ice cream this close after waking up… yeah, no. She’d stick with the tea.

Just as the kettle on the stove started to boil, and Lian was using a plastic stool (Damian still had to use it occasionally, those cabinets were _high_ , and she was only short) to reach for the mugs, she heard someone shuffle in.

“Morning, princess.” A familiar voice said quietly, and when Lian turned, mug in hand, she saw Jason leaning against one of the counters.

“Morning, Jay.” She said, and… god. Was he really there? Was he still half gone? Did he _know_ that Lian _knew_ that he’d…?

She turned slowly, and watched him as he opened the fridge. He… seemed to be there. He was moving normally. Okay, alright. With any luck, Lian could pretend she _didn’t_ learn that the guy in front of her had died before.

God. Why did she feel so shaky?

“You want me to make you anything?” he asked, pulling milk out of the fridge, and making his way over to a cupboard, looking up at her and smiling softly. It was weird how you could see someone’s skull almost completely clearly. It was far too easy to imagine someone as a skeleton.

“No,” Lian said quickly. Too quickly. “I, uh, I’m not hungry.” Did Jason look like he was sleeping when he died? Or was that nearly completely faint scar on his jaw _not_ from a prank on Dick gone wrong as a kid, like he’d said?

“Fair enough,” Jason said, rifling through a cabinet. “I, however, am starving. So, any idea where Dickface hides his precious cereal in this place?”

Lian blinked. “I… I don’t think you can call him that when his wedding was _yesterday._ ”

“Uh, yes I can. It was yesterday, he had twenty-four hours of me being nice, and they’re up.”

Lian exhaled heavily in place of a laugh – it came out shakier than she would’ve liked – and realised the kettle was done. She grabbed a mug and a teabag and started making her tea, she and Jason moving around each other silently. Normally, she’d have herbal teas, like the kind Jason had a stockpile of – and that her dad had a slight hatred of, but bought for her anyway – but Alfred had taught her how to make tea the British way, and she did actually like it. And she _was_ in Alfred’s house, she might as well.

It was weird how there were so many different types of tea, they were all just dead leaves after all. A lot of things were dead, really. Paper and wood were just dead trees. Dead things were everywhere.

Jason brushed her side, and Lian nearly yelled in shock. She bit down on her tongue instead, and said nothing. Jesus _Christ_ , why was she acting so weird?

She finished with her tea, and pulled herself up to sit on the counter, whilst Jason continued to look for… cereal, wasn’t it?

“Doesn’t Dick have a stash of cereal at your place?” Lian asked, ignoring how her mug burnt her hand as she wrapped her fingers around it.

“Yep,” Jason confirmed, leaning down to check the kitchen cupboards. “I swear, he’s got a box fucking everywhere. Pretty sure he even had one at your place, though, your dad probably ate them outta spite.”

Lian smiled to herself. Yeah, that sounded like something her dad would do. Though, she hadn’t had Lucky Charms in _forever_ , so who knows?

“Aha!” Jason held up a slightly crumpled Lucky Charms box over his head victoriously, and Lian felt some of the invisible tension evaporate. “Found them!”

She really needed to stop being so weird. Jason was right here, right in front of her, with half his hair pressed to his head because of how he slept. He was right here, and very much alive. 

“The man doesn’t get a proper wedding, and then you steal his cereal.” Lian tutted, and fake-rolled her eyes. “When will your evil reign end?”

“When I’m dead.” Jason joked.

The tension was back. Lian’s fingers tightened around her mug.

“…Yeah.” She muttered, staring down at her feet.

Jason was silent for a moment, the only sound being some footprints outside, and judging by the sound of nails against the wooden floor, that’d be Titus.

Jason sighed heavily. Lian refused to look up.

“Look, Lian…” Jason trailed off. Oh god, where was this going? “I – I wanted to apologise. For last night.”

Wait. What? That didn’t sound right.

It was enough to pull Lian’s head up, and to her surprise, Jason was looking genuinely remorseful. “I should’ve called someone sooner, and frankly, it was a _total_ overreaction–”

“You _died_.” Lian said, cutting him off. And – well, he _had_. He’d _died_. He died and had freaked out because last night, it might’ve been similar to what happened, enough so that he’d had to… what, leave? His brain had to protect him, so he just left, and checked out mentally? He couldn’t help that, so why the fuck was _he_ apologising? Yeah, it was _weird_ , but it was weird in an _understandable_ way.

“I – wait, how did –”

“Bruce.” Lian explained, looking back down to her feet. “He told me. He – he didn’t explain or anything, just told me that it happened. And that you came back.” Every word felt… just awful. She felt like she’d betrayed Jason, even though she _knew_ she hadn’t.

Jason was silent for a moment, before muttering under his breath. “Huh. The bastard kept information to himself. Real _unpredictable_.”

Why was his tone so jokey? Why was he acting like this didn’t _matter?_

“I’m sorry.” Lian said quickly. “I, um, I shouldn’t have found out at all, and–”

And then Jason was kneeling, and had his hand on her knee. “Hey, Li, can you look at me? Please?”

Reluctantly, she raised her eyes. Jason looked… somewhere in between soft and gentle, and deathly serious. “Look. We were gonna tell you at some point, but then you found out about all of this,” he gestured vaguely, “ _way_ earlier than your dad would’ve liked. So… it kinda threw a wrench in the plans, I won’t lie.”

Jason’s eyes never left her face as he continued. “Death isn’t rare for us. Not for people with our kind of lives… and,” he smirked. “honestly, coming back from it? Not as rare as you’d think. Arguably, it’s pretty common.” He said, shrugging a little, as if that made it all normal and okay.

“But you still _died_.” Lian argued, her voice catching a little on the last word. _Nope._ She wasn’t crying, this was a serious conversation –

“I… yeah.” Jason nodded. “I did. But, hey, I’m way cooler than your average movie zombie, right?” he said, showing her his hand. “Got all my limbs and skin and everything.”

She couldn’t hold in a smile at that, even as her vision blurred slightly. _Keep it together, Harper_. She blinked furiously, and luckily; Jason didn’t comment.

“Um, what I was saying earlier.” Lian said, her voice coming out way more strangled than she would’ve liked. “You… you don’t need to say sorry. Not for that. You died, something reminded you of it. You freaked out.” She quickly scrubbed at her eyes, which were _not_ wet. “I think _I_ should be apologising.”

Jason laughed at that, small and quiet, but a laugh, nonetheless. “Yeah, no. I’ve been doing this sorta thing for years. You’re a fourteen-year-old who’s most stressful life experience–”

“Was being kidnapped by killer robots?”

“… _Before_ getting kidnapped by killer robots, was probably a math test, or something.”

“Actually, it was thinking my family were all part of the mafia, then finding out they’re actually superheroes.” She retorted, smiling widely. Even if this _was_ a… really weird and kind of upsetting conversation, she still really enjoyed going back and forth with Jason like this.

He gave her a flat look and went to ruffle her hair. “Alright, now you’re just being pedantic.”

Lian sipped her tea to hide her smile as Jason stood up properly. “Okay, okay. So, if _I_ can’t say sorry, and neither can you, who owes us an apology?”

Jason stretched, and cocked his head to the side as he thought. “Hm… Wally and Dick.”  
  


He smiled when he saw Lian’s expression. “Not because of any real reason, more that their first dance was genuinely gonna be to _Holding Out for A Hero_.”

Lian snorted, and Jason grinned. “No, seriously! It was like a fancy cover of it or something, but they were _really_ gonna do it.”

She covered her mouth and tried not to laugh. “Okay, okay, an _eighties_ song is bad enough, but _that one!?”_

“It doesn’t even make sense!” Jason added, going back to his abandoned cereal. “ _They’re_ the heroes!”

“I heard someone was critiquing Dick’s song choices?” A familiar voice said, and Lian turned her head to see Tim in the doorway. He was wearing a leather jacket over his pyjamas, which… okay. She’d seen him do weirder things.

“As we rightfully should.” Jason commented, not turning around to face his brother. “You want any cereal?”

“Personally, I would’ve gone with something a bit more on-brand. Like, uhh…” he snapped his fingers as he leant his head back. “God, what’s the name of that Queen song? You know, the one that goes ‘ _oooh love, oooh loverboy_ ’, you know, that one?”

Jason finally turned his head around and gave Tim a flat look from over his shoulder. “Tim, you’re never gonna believe this, but I’m pretty sure it’s _called_ Loverboy.”

Tim suddenly slapped his thigh and pointed at Jason. “ _Good Old-Fashioned Loverboy._ That’s what the bitch is called!”

“There are children present, Timothy.” Jason said, gesturing with his spoon at Lian. “Anyway, can’t you discuss your wedding plans with the clone? As he’ll be there, of course.”

…Who?

Well, whoever ‘the clone’ was, Tim definitely liked them, because he blushed, and glared at his brother as Jason grinned to himself. “His name is _Kon_ , and I’m not gonna discuss my _wedding plans_ with – if anything, you should be talking about yours with _Roy_ –” He abruptly cut himself off and looked towards Lian guiltily.

She took a sip of tea that was surprisingly loud in the mostly quiet kitchen. “I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” She said, shrugging a little. And… well, they practically lived with Jason anyway. “Just, please, _don’t_ get married in a _church_.”

Both Jason and Tim looked a little shellshocked. Tim broke the awkward silence by laughing uncomfortably and tugging on the slightly too long sleeves of the leather jacket he was wearing.

“Yeah, a church is…” he shook his head. “Nah.”

“Okay, for the _third_ time, Tim, _do you want cereal?”_ Jason asked, holding a second bowl, and looking at him expectantly. “Come on, I don’t have all day.”

“Alright then.” Tim leaned back against the counter Lian was sitting on, her bare ankle brushing the leather of his jacket. Now she had a proper look at it… wait a second. Wasn’t that Jon’s brother’s? He’d been wearing it at the wedding.

“So, one genius to another,” Tim said casually, getting a laugh out of Jason. “what _is_ the best song to play for a first dance?”

“How am I a genius?” Lian asked, raising an eyebrow. Tim shrugged as she took another sip from her tea. She better hurry up with this thing, it was getting kinda cold.

“Oh, you know,” Tim gestured vaguely, startlingly similar to Jason. “discovering superhero shit from a young age.”

“You’re a genius, we get it.” Jason said, rolling his eyes as he handed Tim a bowl of stolen Lucky Charms. 

“Thirteen isn’t _that_ young.” Lian argued. “I mean – wait, how old were you?”

“Nine,” Tim’s voice was muffled from the marshmallows he was shoving into his mouth. “so, like, only beat you by four years.”

Lian practically _felt_ her eyes bug out of her head at that. “You were _how old_ –?”

“You have a genius level intellect, we _get it_.” Jason commented, through his own mouthful of cereal.

“Aw, you’re just jealous.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Seriously, if you were _that_ smart, you could…” he waved his spoon around. “Figure out… Li, help me out here.”

“Figure out what the fuck happened last night?” Lian offered, saying the first thing that popped into her head. “Like seriously, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Tim tilted his head back and sighed. “Uh… okay, so you and Jay–” he suddenly paused, and his head snapped up. “Wait a fucking second.”

Lian and Jason shot looks at each other as Tim started pacing, keeping his bowl in his hand, and occasionally tapping the spoon against it. “Okay, wait, you were the _only two_ people,” he gestured with his spoon. “y’know, taken.”

“You can say kidnapped.” Lian stated flatly. “Seriously. It’s okay.”  
  


“Alright, so it was literally only you two kidnapped. You know what you two have in common?” Tim pointed at Lian, and then at Jason. “Three guesses, it’s that the press knows like _nothing_ about you two.”

“Uh, they know I’m dead?”

“And they know I exist?” Lian corrected, confused. “I’m pretty sure there’s at least one article about me.”

Tim nodded. “Right, okay, but _think_. That’s in _Star City._ Gotham? No idea about you. And I’m pretty sure you’re legally dead in most countries.” Tim added, nodding at Jason.

“Even in Bialya!” Jason added with false cheer. “But, seriously,” his voice went back to normal, as he raised an eyebrow at Tim. “where are you going with this?”

“I’m _getting to it_.” Tim said, quickly spooning some Lucky Charms into his mouth. He chewed quickly and swallowed as Jason and Lian shot even _more_ looks at each other.

“Okay,” Tim continued. “putting it bluntly, no one knows you, no one cares. So, if someone went to the trouble of kidnapping some random people from a wedding… a wedding that had so many superheroes…” Tim’s eyes widened. “Oh. Oh _fuck_.”

“Care to share with the rest of the class?” Jason asked.

“Okay, put yourself into a really ruthless mindset, alright?” Tim asked, eyes wild. “You kidnap two random people, from an event. My theory is that you’d do that to get information – but if you got some guy and some kid that you don’t recognise, what do you do? Kill them, right?”

Jason blinked, and sent Lian a look. ‘ _What the fuck is he on about?’_ his face read.

_‘I have no fucking idea_.’ Lian sent back.

Jason clicked his tongue and looked back to his brother. “Alright, sure, we _kill_ them…” he trailed off. “…You’re not done yet.” He noted, Tim nodding enthusiastically at that.

“ _Yes_ , here’s the thing, in the hypothetical situation where your slapped together plan fails, you’d wanna make sure those people are _actually_ dead, right?” Tim continued, and Lian suddenly became aware of how weird this situation really was.

“So, what do you do? _Trackers._ And you know what we didn’t check last night because we were all exhausted, and ol’ Mr Paranoia McBats was occupied?” Tim paused, gesturing at Jason to continue.

“…Our clothes.” Jason said, his eyes widening. “Oh. Oh _shit_.”

Tim nodded. “Yep. So – _oh god_.” He paused, and his face fell. “ _We’ve led them right to the Batcave_.”

Tim quickly ran towards one of the counters and slammed his bowl down. “We need to tell everyone – shit – I’ll grab Bruce, you wake up someone else, I don’t know! We need Babs, fucking _hell_ –”

He sprinted out of the room, tugging the jacket off his shoulders has he ran.

Jason put his own bowl down quickly and turned to face Lian.

“Okay, Lian. This is, this is weird, and serious. I need you to go wake up your dad, if he’s not awake already, and Damian. Can you do that for me?”

Lian swallowed. “Uh – yeah – yeah, I can do that.”

The next… it could’ve been ten minutes, it could’ve been half an hour, it could’ve been longer, Lian had no idea. It passed in a blur. Her dad was already wide awake by the time she rushed into the living room, and Damian was already in the process of waking up Jon. The three of them were quickly chaperoned back into the kitchen by Duke and told to stay there.

Lian had no idea what was going on, but it didn’t seem like anything good.

* * *

“Okay, you’re totally cheating.” Jon said, shooting a suspicious look at Damian’s hand, as he moved the chess piece across the board.

“I’m really not,” Damian insisted. “knights _do_ jump over other pieces.”

“Still think you made that up.”

“We _looked_ it _up_.”

“You could’ve edited the article.”

“You think I would’ve edited an entire Wikipedia article just to prove myself correct?”

“Yes! It’s _totally_ the sort of thing you’d do!”

“You know what’s something _you’d_ totally do?” Damian asked, knocking over one of Jon’s white pieces with his finger. “Lose.”

Jon blinked at the board. “Wait, how –”

“You’re in checkmate, that’s how.” Damian offered, grinning widely.

Lian buried herself further into the massive armchair, pressing the book closer to her face. How _those_ two could relax with everything going on, she’d never know.

The situation was just… weird. Everyone, and she meant, _everyone_ , had gone to sort out something that _definitely_ involved those weird metal worm things, and they were expected to stay at Wayne Manor, and… not cause trouble? Relax?

Act like it wasn’t _her_ fucking fault she’d lead those things back to Wayne Manor?

“Okay, seriously, are you moving my pieces when I’m not looking?”

“You’d definitely notice, why would I even bother–?”

And she wasn’t even allowed to _help_ , she had to just _sit_ there and act like nothing was wrong. She wasn’t even allowed to go down to the Batcave and do fucking surveillance or something for Barbara, because… why? Because she didn’t understand it? She was too _young?_ It was her _fault_ , why couldn’t she _just_ –

“No! I’m calling bull!” Jon cried, half flying out of his chair and jarring Lian out of her thoughts. “You are _so_ cheating!”

Damian sighed, and rolled his eyes dramatically. “Jon, just because you’re terrible at chess doesn’t mean I’m cheating.”

The worst part was that Lian couldn’t even focus on her book. She’d pulled a random one off the library shelves, but unfortunately, _Stranger in a Strange Land_ wasn’t enthralling enough to keep her attention. Plus, the author was definitely sexist to the point of it being _weird_.

Jon groaned. “Okay, one more game. If I lose, you’re cheating.”

“Jon, I think you’re just bad at chess.” Lian said quietly, readjusting herself in the armchair, pressing her back against one arm, and slinging her leg over the opposite one.

“I’m not _bad at chess._ ” Jon said through gritted teeth. “I play with Ma whenever I see her, and Kon and I play a lot.”

“Does _Kon_ always win?” Lian guessed, folding her book down to get a proper look at the game. She’d only played a few times herself before, a few times with Dinah, but mostly with her grandpa Ollie. They didn’t bond much, but it was fun kicking his ass at board games like that. It was mostly just guessing on her part, though.

“Yeah, but he _does_ cheat, and it’s not subtle. _Flipping_ telekinesis.” Jon grinned, taking one of Damian’s bishops. “Hah, you’re in check.”

“You can say fuck, it won’t kill you.” Damian commented flatly.

“Yeah, I mean, you’re sixteen.” Lian piped up. “I’m two years younger than you, and I swear way more.”

“ _And_ your brother doesn’t exactly censor himself, why wouldn’t you? You're hardly going to get in trouble for it.” Damian added.

Jon took Damian’s knight, and sent him a suspicious look. “Because I don’t want to? Also, mostly spite.” He took one of Damian’s pawns, and paused. “Are you _letting me win?”_

Damian took his remaining bishop, and knocked over Jon’s queen, without breaking eye contact. “Why, Jonathan, I’d never do such a thing.” He said in a surprisingly convincingly hurt voice.

“Sure, you wouldn’t.” Jon muttered. Lian rolled her eyes at the two of them and turned her eyes back to the book.

…This guy was _so_ not saying cannibalism was right, was he? Maybe she should just read something else, she was pretty spoilt for choice.

God, old books were weird. Jason had rambled to her enough for her to understand that, although, Shakespeare made more sense with context, she did have to admit.

Christ, she’d be upset if Jason never got to ramble to her about old books again.

Wait. _What?_ No – _no_ , Jesus _Christ_ , why’d she _think_ of that? She – that – no, just – no.

“A- _ha!_ ” Jon took Damian’s king, and laughed loudly and victoriously, leaning back in his chair. “I _knew_ I could do it!”

“Yes, well done.” Damian said, rolling his eyes, but he was smiling as well. He looked over to Lian and shot her a wink. Lian quickly raised her book to hide her smirk. “Care for another game, Samuel Loyd?” he added.

Jon and Lian sent him both confused looks at the same time.

“He was an American chess player.” Damian said with a shrug as he began to rearrange the pieces. “Educate yourselves.”

“Yeah, I’ll just learn about famous chess players, like a totally normal person.” Lian said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Jon stood up, and started floating, drifting towards the bookshelves. “I’m quitting whilst I’m ahead,” he explained, at Damian’s confused look. “I’ve won now, I’m satisfied.”

“I’ll play a game.” Lian offered, shutting her book. “I mean, I haven’t played much before, but I can try.”

“That’s fine.” Damian said, gesturing at the chair across from him. “At least you’ll actually try.” He said, shooting a look over at Jon, who was pulling a book off of one of the top shelves.

“This is bullying!” Jon called. “Hey, Lian, have you read this? _Paradise Lost_?”

“It’s good if you like daddy issues.” Lian said, sitting down across from Damian. “Alright… how do I start?”

“You know the names of the pieces, right? Good, okay, so you start with pawns…”

Jon flew out at some point to read, and Lian did her best to pay attention to what Damian was saying, but chess sounded a lot more complicated than she remembered.

“How’d you get so good at chess anyway?” Lian asked casually, making her knight jump over one of the pawns.

“Father taught me.” Damian explained, tapping his fingers against the board. “He taught all of us how to play, although some of us are better than others.”

“You can say whoever it is, I won’t judge.” Lian said, forcing back a smirk as Damian pushed one of his pawns forward.

  
“Alright, Richard and Cassandra are arguably terrible.” Damian raised an eyebrow at Lian as she moved one of her own pawns. “Duke is rather skilled; I’ve lost against him an infuriating amount of times.”  
  


“Huh, your dad teaches you stuff.” Lian muttered, feeling unexpected bitterness in the back of her throat. “Cool.”

“Chess isn’t entirely… something that needs to be _taught_.” Damian picked up one of his own knights and took out the pawn Lian moved. “Rather, it’s more something to be learnt.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” she used her own knight to take Damian’s.

“Not at all,” Damian moved another pawn. “what do you think teaching yourself is? You weren’t taught how to walk, but you learnt.”

Lian shrugged and picked up a bishop. “I guess. Chess doesn’t really seem like one of those things, though.”

“You’d be surprised.” Damian didn’t react as Lian took one of his pawns, and simply moved his remaining knight. “Plenty of people learn how to play by themselves. Sure, it’s better to be taught, but it’s not the only option.”

“Aren’t you way more likely to lose, though?” Lian argued, hesitantly picking up her rook to take one of Damian’s pawn.

“Well, yes. But that doesn’t mean it’s pointless.” Damian took her other bishop; she’d need to keep an eye on that knight. And… this felt like they weren’t really talking about chess anymore.

“It’s not like I’m _not_ being taught, though.” She said, carefully testing the waters of the conversation. Damian nodded, so she continued as she took one of Damian’s bishops with her rook. “Cha taught me some, but…” she shook her head and sighed heavily. “Not enough.”

“You know why he does that?” Damian was moving his queen now. If he – okay, so that was her knight gone. But she had a whole other rook to work with… if she moved the pawn in front of it. Fuck.

“Because he’s worried about what’ll happen if I lose.” She moved the pawn forward, and luckily, Damian busied himself with taking one of her other pawns that was left in the middle of the board.  
  


“He’s trying to look after you. Which is fair, you’re his daughter. No one wants their child to lose at something.” Damian said, raising an eyebrow at her as she moved her second rook across the board.

“He’s way too overprotective. How the hell am I gonna learn how to win, or to lose _safely_ , if I’m not even allowed to play?” her voice came out surprisingly bitter, and she realised she’d been gritting her teeth. Damian placed his knight in front of her rook, and it was _far_ too easy. She moved her remaining bishop instead, taking one of Damian’s pawns.  
  


“Well…” Damian trailed off. “You’re being – let’s say _encouraged_ – not to play. But in my personal experience, disobeying your parents is pretty important to being happy.” He moved his queen, which Lian quickly took.

Wait.

Lian blinked. “Wait, if I’m keeping up with the whole metaphor thing we’re doing here, you are _so_ not telling me to–”

“Huh, I’m in check.” Damian interrupted, looking down at the board. “Can’t move that there… or there…” he smirked. “You beat me. Well done.”

Lian glanced down at the board, and… yeah. Damian was right. How’d she done that?

“You let me win, right?” She guessed.

“Oh, yeah. But you weren’t half bad.”

“Uh, anyway… are you telling me that I–”

“ _Lian_ ,” Jon’s voice said, echoing slightly in the large library. “you didn’t tell me this was basically bible fanfiction!” he announced, flopping down on the couch opposite to the chessboard. “Like seriously! _Lucifer is the main character?_ ”

“The beginning of sexy Satan.” Damian said, voice dripping with distaste.

Jon blinked at him. “I – I was gonna ask you to explain, but actually, I think I get it?”

Lian stretched, her shoulders cracking slightly. “He’s weird in that book, not gonna lie. Jason wasn’t a massive fan.”

Damian leaned over and started to collect his black pieces from her side of the board. “He’s loyal to his beloved Shakespeare, of course.”

Jon shut the book with a snap. “Not to sound like a _complete_ stupid teenager,” he jumped off the couch, and quickly flew up to the bookshelf where he got it in the first place. “but all those long words and religious references were giving me a headache.”

“And now you’re bored?” Lian guessed.

“ _Aaaand_ now I’m bored.” Jon admitted, leaning back in the air, knitting his fingers together and holding them behind his head, and swooping dramatically back and forth as he came down, oddly reminiscent of a falling piece of paper.

He landed on the same couch with a loud sigh. “Sucks that we can’t really leave the Manor.”

Lian swallowed whatever self-deprecating thought down along with a sudden tide of guilt. No, she didn’t have time for that now.

“I mean, _you_ could.” Damian commented, adjusting his queen. “Father said you could leave.”

“He said I could leave if I was fine with you dying.” Jon retorted.

“I hardly have a clear record with that, to be fair.” Damian joked.

Lian felt her eyes widen involuntarily. No, no, what? Hang on, _hadn’t Jason mentioned something about how coming back from the dead was surprisingly common–_

“Hey, Lian, will you teach me archery?” Jon asked, leaning his head so he could actually look at her, his glasses tilting awkwardly as they pressed against his face.

“Uh,” Lian looked towards Damian, who was still busy with the chess pieces. “sure. We don’t have any bows or arrows here, though, so I’m not sure _how_ I’d do that?”

“There are bows in the Batcave.” Damian mentioned offhandedly. “Not sure how you’d get to them, though.”

“Babs _would_ crucify us…” Jon agreed. “…if she caught us.”

Damian gave him a flat look. “No.”

Hm… well, aside from chess, she was _pretty_ bored. And it _would_ be fun to try and teach Jon how to shoot… hell, it’d be fun just to shoot some stuff anyway. She was a decent enough shot to not accidentally break something.

“I’m up for it,” Lian offered. “death by Oracle sounds fun.”

Damian gave her an exasperated look. “God no, not you too, _ya 'iilhi._ ”

“Insulting us in Arabic doesn’t count,” Jon said quickly, “can’t understand it.” His smile was pretty smug, and Lian couldn’t help but feel like Jon had used this response a _lot_.

“Does it count if I call you _ngốc nghếch?”_ Lian added quickly. Okay, calling him stupid in Vietnamese was a low blow, _buuuuut_ –

Jon blinked. “Uh… yes. Still don’t understand it, doesn’t count.” He sat up quickly, and almost bounced with how quickly he righted himself. “Okay, so, plan for sneaking past Babs?”

“I want no part in this.” Damian said quickly. “Barbara actually trusts me; I’ve worked _hard_ for that.”

“Just me and Lian then, huh?” Jon stood up. “Alright, how comfortable are you with me carrying you?”

* * *

“You sure I’m not too heavy?” Lian whispered, readjusting herself on Jon’s back. She had her legs wrapped around his waist and clinging onto his shoulders.

“Literal superstrength, Li.” He reminded her; his voice hushed. It was a bit of an awkward angle because he was already floating. Their plan was pretty risky – well, not genuinely dangerous, but risky because they were fucking with Babs.

They needed to be quiet, mainly because the Cave was… well, a cave, and also mainly lined with metal, which meant it echoed like _hell_. And they were trying to be stealthy here.

She’d sneaked into the Batcave once before, how hard could it be to steal – well, borrow – a few bows and arrows?

* * *

As it turned out, it was pretty difficult.

Jon flew down the staircase as slowly and silently as possible, as Lian clung to his back and tried to breathe quietly. Once they actually got through the entrance, it got a little trickier. As Babs was sat at the giant Batcomputer, too close to the entrance for comfort.

“To the left, Nightwing.” She said, loud and clear. “Black Bat can take the right. Batgirl, don’t go with her. Go with Signal – don’t argue, we know Black Bat can look after herself.”

Jon flew up high above her head and tried to keep himself at a drift. Quick movements were what caught the eye, after all. If Lian looked up, she’d be nose to nose with the actual, _real_ bats that rested on the roof of the cave. She’d been shocked as hell when she first learnt about them, like, she knew the Bats were _goth_ , but wasn’t that a _little_ extreme?

Lian looked down and tried to scan the floor of the Cave for the weapons case. No, that was the training area, the conference room… aha, there. She pointed, Jon flew overhead, and started to lower them.

They landed with relative ease, Jon knelt down so Lian could climb off of him without making her footsteps loud and echoey. Lian quickly turned to face the weapons case and paused. Wait a second.

She hesitantly tried pulling open one of the doors, and as she feared, it didn’t budge. It was locked.

Oh _god_ , _duh_. Of course it was locked, _of course_. What now?

Lian gestured to the case, and made a twisting motion with her hand, mimicking turning a key. Jon’s eyes widened, and he nodded. He quickly started floating again and made his way up into the shadows.

She felt surprisingly alone, standing in the dark of the Cave, her only real light source being the glow of the Batcomputer, and Babs’s voice and typing being the main sound echoing around the cave.

There was a near-silent woosh, and Jon was pressing a ring of keys into her hand, holding onto one specific key. Lian grabbed onto it, gritting her teeth as there was a quiet jangling noise.

Both of them froze. Babs didn’t stop typing.

“Uh huh, okay, Batman to the front. Keep an eye on those ones on the left, they look ready to fly.”

Another beat passed, and Lian let out a long breath in relief. She turned to the weapons case slowly, and slowly, _slowly_ , unlocked the weapons case. She pulled the door open at a painfully slow pace and reached in to grab a bow.

Unfortunately, as Bruce only had bows out of potential necessity, he hardly had a selection to choose from. They were all the same size and drawback weight, but they’d have to do.

She passed the two bows she’d grabbed to Jon, and reached for a quiver. They’d only need one, just to carry the arrows.

But, of course, life decided to fuck her over once more.

As Lian reached for a case of arrows, and gradually emptied it into the quiver she’d grabbed, Babs suddenly yelled – “ _Red Robin_ , on your right!” – and Lian startled, the arrows and quiver falling out of her hands, and clattered against each other loudly.

Jon inhaled sharply, as Babs trailed off. “…You can survive without me for a second, right? Okay, just need to check something.”

Lian picked up all the remaining arrows, shoved them in the quiver, slung it over her shoulder, and clung onto Jon’s side as he quickly wrapped his arm around her ribs, and sped up to the ceiling.

Babs’s wheelchair squeaked slightly as she rolled towards the weapons case. “Damian, Jon, if that’s one of you–”

“ _Jon_ ,” Lian hissed, “I’m slipping, get a better grip on me.”

“Lian?” Babs asked, looking straight up. “I can see you both up there. You’re not _meant_ to–”

There was a sudden beeping from the computer. Jon dropped one of the two bows as he got a proper grip on Lian, as Babs quickly wheeled back to the computer.

“Shit.” Lian caught her mutter, as Jon flew them over. “ _Shit_.”

She craned her neck around and stared at Jon and Lian hanging in the air. “Okay, we may or may not have a bit of a massive fuck-up on our hands.”

“… _How_ massive?” Jon asked, his voice cautious. Lian took the opportunity to sling the remaining bow over one shoulder and adjust the quiver’s strap.

Babs bit her lip and looked towards one of the tabs open. “Get Damian down here, tell him to bring his belt and a sword. You stay down here. Lian, you need to hide.”

Jon quickly leant down, and Lian jumped and landed with a loud echoey noise. “What? Why?”

“I’m serious here.” Babs was typing quickly and adjusting the comm on her ear. “ _Hide_. All of the bedrooms are pretty fortified, Jason’s old one is the closest.”

“But–”

There was a sudden crash, and Babs’s face went ashen. “ _Shit_. How’d they get here so fast?! Run, fucking go!”

There was another loud bang, and Lian was off, barely registering what she was doing as she bolted up the staircase, Jon hot on her heels.

She barely stopped to look at Damian as she ran through the library. There was an even louder bang, someone screamed. The bowstring dug into Lian’s arm as she ran.

Okay, up the stairs, ignore the banging and crashing that was getting steadily louder. Down the corridor, past the creepy portraits, _ignore_ _the banging_. She threw open a door, slammed it shut behind her, and then flung herself under the bed.

She pressed her face into the carpet, and gasped. Shit, shit, shit, shitshitshitshit. What had she done _now?_

There was an awful metallic screech, and Lian’s blood turned to ice.

Oh god. They were back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second to last chapter?????!?!??!??!?! my mind is bOGGLED lads
> 
> Next chapter: it's the final countdowwwwwn *do do do, do do do do*


	16. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Here it is. Much sooner than I was expecting and ready for. 
> 
> Featuring: Lian finally gets to be a hero.

Lian would say she’d had an interesting life so far. She’d definitely had some uncommon experiences, especially for someone her age.

Hiding under a bed with a bow pressing into her arm, the sound of metallic screeching echoing through Wayne Manor, whilst Robin, Superboy, and Oracle all fought off who knows what in the Batcave downstairs was… definitely one of the more _unique_ ones.

There was a deafening crash, uncomfortably close to the room where Lian was hiding. She flinched as she heard wood splintering. Okay, _great_. One of those… _things_ was actually _in_ Wayne Manor, by the sounds of it.

She’d have to find a new hiding spot, and quick, if that thing came any closer. But the thought of slipping out of the room made her want to scream. She couldn’t. She just couldn’t.

Lian shifted, and suddenly felt the bowstring pressing into her arm. The quiver full of arrows on her back…

No. That’d just be – that’d be _insane_. She couldn’t even _move_ right now.

The banging got louder.

Fucking hell, you grow up surrounded by superheroes, and not _one_ of them shows up when you actually _need_ them.

She couldn’t move. She was pretty much frozen under this fucking bed, breathing in dust, listening to the deafening crashing getting louder. She’d – she’d have to wait.

No, who was she kidding? She’d be a sitting duck if she waited here. Plus, how would she _call_ for help? How would anyone _know_ she was here? She didn’t have a comm link or anything. And everyone else was downstairs…

God. She was so, so, _so_ dead.

It suddenly dawned on her. She was very, very alone. And there was one of those flying metal worm things just _waiting_ for her outside. And all she had was a bow, and a few arrows.

She wanted a hero to come and save her? She’d have to do it herself.

But –

There was another crash, this one a lot closer. The sound echoed through her very _bones_ , and she heard herself make some kind of noise. She _had_ to move. And fast.

Slowly, she inched herself out from under the bed, trying to calm her shaky breaths. She could… potentially do this, right? It was just like one of those training exercises she did with her dad. She _knew_ she could shoot a bow whilst running, and her aim was only a _little_ off.

…She was _so_ dead. Deader than dead.

She stood up properly, and leant herself against the wall. Who the fuck was she kidding? She was a _kid_ ; she was _dead_ if she went out there.

There was another crash, and the door of the room shuddered slightly in its frame. A book tumbled off one of the shelves.

…She was probably less dead out there than she was in here.

With shaking hands, she reached back, and took a single arrow from her quiver. She didn’t know how many she was working with, so she’d have to be careful about that.

“Calm the fuck down, Harper.” She muttered to herself, as she quickly nocked the arrow.

Okay, limited arrows, paralysing anxiety, weird fucking flying robots that had nearly killed her once before, and _definitely_ not enough training to handle this? Death was only a mindset at this point.

Taking in what felt like her final breath, Lian pushed the doorhandle down with her elbow, leant against the door, and pushed it open.

* * *

The hallway was empty. Things had fallen off the walls and shelves, broken glass was _everywhere_ from fallen picture frames, and it was kind of a mess –

But it was empty. No monster robot worms.

Lian edged her way around the broken glass, and shuffled forward slowly. One of those things could be right around the corner, and she could have no idea. Especially if they were flying.

There. End of the hallway. There was a space where the wall fell away on one side, and became a banister, showing off the wide staircase and entrance hall of Wayne Manor. It wasn’t much, she would’ve much preferred brick, but it was enough to hide behind. It’d have to be.

There was a metallic screech, as loud as a funeral knell. It grated against Lian’s ears, and made her teeth ache. She quickly backed herself against what little wall she had left, and held in a yelp of pain as something sharp pressed into her ankle. _Shit_ , she was still in what she _slept_ in. A t-shirt, oversized sweatpants, and bare feet were hardly fucking _armour_.

…Maybe if she ran quickly, she could make it to some kind of panic room, because Bruce would totally have multiple of those, right? There had to be one around _somewhere_ –

There was a loud thump, Lian was out of wall, and oh good god it was _right there_.

It slithered across the wooden floor, digging its metal head into the wood. Lian watched in horror as it seemingly… smelt something? And proceeded to lift its head, and slam it into the floor, godawful screeches coming from it.

Well. It was now, or never.

She was pretty sure it had better hearing than sight. And it was a good thing arrows were practically silent.

She drew back her arrow, the bowstring right against her face, and breathed. _Breathe, aim –_

She let go.

The arrow flew across the room, and lodged itself firmly in one of the grooves of the worm thing’s body. It screeched – Lian felt the arrowrest knock her in the side of the head as she pressed her hands against her ears – and writhed, contorting itself around.

Lian ducked down behind the banister, staring down at the robot through the… rail things. What were they called? Balusters? Spindles?

Either way, it didn’t matter. The worm was in pain – that meant she’d hit it somewhere important.

Okay, okay, okay – _focus_ Harper. She had a target, _several_ targets in fact. The grooves were sensitive and potentially kinks in the armour. She could _work_ with this.

She reached back, and grabbed another arrow. Okay, with this angle, and the way the thing was writhing… she’d never get a clear shot.

Lian grabbed onto the banister, and pulled herself up speedily. She pulled back her arrow, ran to the top of the staircase, and aimed. One was right _there_ –

She shot. And missed.

The arrow bounced off the metal worm’s side, and it reacted just as quickly. It threw itself around, paused for less than a second, and Lian knew she was dead.

It threw itself up the stairs, moving slow, but still too _fast_ , and she had to get out. She couldn’t go the way she came, it’d follow her, and it was the same if she continued down the corridor. She couldn’t go down the stairs, for _obvious_ reasons. The only place she could go…

Lian managed to tear her eyes away from the worm advancing towards her, for just a second, and saw the chandelier in the middle of the room shaking as it hurled itself up the stairs violently.

…Was up.

No – that was insane. But she didn’t exactly have any other options that were coming to mind. Lian threw her bow over one shoulder, pulled herself up onto the banister, and oh fuck oh fuck it was right behind her and –

She jumped forward, reaching up – and _someone_ must’ve been smiling down at her because her hand connected to a string of gems hanging down from the low chandelier. Her mind was eerily clear as she reached up for the next one, the first string of gems she’d grabbed onto snapping and sending glass beads cascading to the floor.

Up, up, up, grab onto the next row, ignoring her feet that were _definitely_ full of glass gem shards., onto the metal, onto another row, until she was grabbing at the chain of the _giant_ chandelier, and being glad she wasn’t afraid of heights.

Her breath heaved in her chest and her hands cried out in pain as she watched the metal worm thing thrash and break the banister, sending splinters of broken wood around the room. Fucking _hell_ – that was a lucky call. She would’ve been… she didn’t even wanna know what if she’d stayed.

But now she had a new problem. It was angry – it couldn’t fly, for some reason, maybe because of where Lian had shot it, but it knew where she was, and it was _definitely_ angry.

She cringed as she knocked one of the lights off as she took her bow off her shoulder. She didn’t have a super clear aim from here, but she could hardly change position.

The thing screeched, long and loud, and Lian’s hands shook as she drew back the bowstring. Okay, she could hardly see because of the lights, fucking hell –

She aimed at what looked like a groove, and released the arrow.

There was a shattering sound, and she leaned over the chandelier, lights digging into her stomach, more gems digging into her feet and ankles painfully. Oh god. There was an arrow sticking out of the worm thing’s eye, and there was black liquid seeping out – oh god, was that its _blood_ or something?

The worm started moving, throwing itself down the stairs, leaving a small trail of black liquid splatters as it moved, creaking ominously. The walls groaned as the thing flung itself against the wooden floorboards.

Lian quickly stood up from where she was crouched on the chandelier, and took out another arrow. Judging by the way the chandelier chain was groaning, she didn’t wanna take a chance on how long this thing would hold her. This next shot _had_ to count.

And, just as she was pulling back the bowstring, she paused. The thing… it was curling up, right underneath the chandelier. Spiralling in on itself, like a corkscrew, or a spring, or –

Shit. It was gonna jump.

Lian quickly looked down, between her feet, the metal framework, and the swinging ropes of gems, she had a somewhat clear few of the thing writhing.

Well, she’d never shot an arrow straight between her feet before. But – hey, first time for everything?

She drew back the bowstring – _god_ , this was a weird angle – and shot straight down. As she’d hoped, the arrow lodged in one of the worm’s many grooves. It let out that _awful_ metallic screech again, smothering Lian’s small victorious spark of joy immediately.

Okay, okay, no time to celebrate a lucky shot – she needed to get off this chandelier, and fast, because that thing looked ready to coil itself up and jump again, despite the three arrows in it.

Alright, option one, jump down from the chandelier onto the floor. No, that wouldn’t work, she didn’t want to break her fucking neck. She could climb further up the chain and – no, that wouldn’t work, she wasn’t _Cass_.

Fuck, she needed an option three. She scanned the room, and noticed something. Towards the left, there were wooden ceiling beams. Thick ones, that could definitely hold a person. If she were at the edge of the chandelier, and managed to _swing_ it…

Well, most of her crazy ideas had worked lately. What was one more?

She shouldered her bow once more, grabbed a hold of the chandelier, mumbled “Cha, if I die right now, I’m so sorry,” under her breath, and jumped.

The chandelier swung towards the ceiling beams, groaning under the sudden shift in weight. Okay, okay, this was dumb, this was _so_ _dumb_. She jumped again, and fuck, the ceiling beams were so close, if she just –

There was a noise that sounded like metal sheets tearing themselves apart, and Lian suddenly found herself being thrown forward, the chandelier being shoved violently to the side by the worm thing jumping up.

Lian wasn’t entirely sure _when_ she jumped, all she knew was that she had her arms flung over one of the ceiling beams, and she was slipping.

Fuck, okay, she was _not_ gonna die like this. She tried to get a better grip on the ceiling beam, and used whatever remaining strength she had left to pull her lower body up, so she could roll onto her stomach, pressing her face into the dusty wood, gasping for air.

She was _never_ going to complain about a training exercise _again_.

Her arms and fingers were screaming at her. It felt like her chest was too small for her lungs, her stomach churned and her back ached and her skin was _buzzing_. She felt like she was about to die. And… it was kind of amazing. Holy shit. Holy _shit!_ She just jumped from a fucking chandelier to a ceiling beam with a bow and a quiver full of arrows!

There was a godawful screech – this one somehow louder and more pained than the rest, and the indescribable sound of a chandelier falling to the ground.

Lian could only blink as the roaring in her ears quietened down, and she started to breathe normally. Uh, oops? Her bad?

She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, and swore loudly as arrows fell loose from her quiver, making loud clattering noises on the wooden floor below.

She righted herself onto one knee properly, like she was going to propose to someone, and took her quiver off her shoulder, cursing more as she counted the three she had managed to salvage. She paused, and looked up at the mess she’d made. The chandelier had indeed fallen, and from what Lian could see, it’d completely crushed the worm, glass gems scattered all over the floor.

She knelt there, silently, trying to regain her breath proper. It felt too silent, too quiet. Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her ears.

At least that worm thing was definitely dead now. Being crushed by a chandelier couldn’t have been –

There was a metallic grating noise, and Lian tensed. No. No, no, no, no, _no_ , _absolutely no way_.

She watched in horror as the worm thing shifted underneath the broken remains of the chandelier, and slowly drew itself up to its full height, chandelier falling to the floor like it was a blanket falling off a kid standing up.

The thing was covered in dents, every movement made it creak like a thousand-year-old climbing frame, and it looked just about ready to do the robot version of keeling over and dying. Lian would’ve been impressed if it weren’t for the dread sitting heavily in her stomach.

“What _is_ it with you?” Lian muttered, reaching back for an arrow instinctively, as the thing began its slow, _loud_ shuffle towards her. “What do I have to do to fucking _shut you down?”_

Just as Lian nocked an arrow, she realised something. All her arrows that she’d shot _into_ the actual thing were either partially sticking out of the grooves, or just not there anymore. Like the one in its eye.

…Maybe if she got an arrow fully _inside_ of the thing, it’d go down. Like a soft core, or something.

Well, Lian thought as she pulled back the bowstring, it wasn’t the stupidest idea she’d ever had. Not even the stupidest one _today_.

Alright, how was she gonna do this? She could try and shoot an arrow that was already there further _into_ the thing, but that’d probably just split the arrow and do more harm than good. Well, it was worth a shot.

She aimed at the arrow sticking out of its left side, the first one she’d fired, and shot. The second arrow shot straight through the first, leaving it a mess of parts on the floor below.

Well. Fuck. Two arrows left – these had to count.

Oh. If she shot it somewhere else, like its other eye, it’d _hopefully_ recoil back, _hopefully_ leaving one of the grooves wide and open. But she’d have to be _quick_.

Moving with a speed she didn’t know she had, she took one arrow out of the quiver, and shoved it between her teeth, taking her last arrow out of the quiver, nocking it, and aiming. Her dad would’ve been impressed, she hoped.

_Breathe_. She inhaled sharply. _Aim._ Right there, at the robot’s remaining red, glassy eye. _Fire._

She could hear the sound of the glass eye shattering from the ceiling beams. As she’d hoped, the thing leaned back and screeched in pain, and before she knew what she was doing, Lian had her bowstring slapping her in the arm as she fired.

The arrow landed directly in the centre of one of the grooves, and fell all the way through.

Lian held her breath as the worm froze, and went silent, a scream cut off halfway through. It fell, slowly, groove by groove landing on the wooden floor with a bang, until it just… went limp.

Was that… it? Was it over?

Lian grabbed onto the ceiling beam, and tried to steady herself. Holy shit. It was _over_. The thing was dead.

“Holy shit, _thánh tào lao_ , holy _shit_.” She muttered. She still felt tense, she still felt like she might have to reach back for an arrow – or, beat someone over the head with her bow, at this point – but holy _shit_. It was _over_.

* * *

She stayed up in the ceiling beams for what felt like forever, until Jon emerged from somewhere, and graciously helped her down. He didn’t ask any questions, but he did eye the scene suspiciously.

Two of those things had invaded the Batcave. Jon, Damian, and Barbara had managed to fight them off, deactivating one and breaking the other. Lian just nodded and hummed through the explanation, the exhaustion resting on her shoulders too heavy to let her do anything else.

Babs had freaked out once she saw the state of Lian’s hands and feet. She forced her to lie down on one of the mattresses that were still out in the living room, as she picked out glass and splinters with a pair of tweezers. The painkillers Damian had handed Lian made her mind feel all foggy and clouded, so it wasn’t really a surprise when she woke up on the same mattress, this time covered by a soft blanket and with a pillow under her head. She didn’t question it, and let herself fall back into a deep sleep.

* * *

When she woke up again, she felt like a building had collapsed on top of her.

She groaned lowly, and suddenly felt a soft hand in her hair.

Whoever it was must’ve felt her tense, because she soon heard “Hey, it’s okay, it’s just me, princess.”

Oh. “Cha?” her voice was ragged, but she heard him laugh softly.

“Yeah, it’s me. How do you feel?”

“Like death.” She responded. She cracked her eyes open, and immediately shut them again. That had been a mistake. Her head was _throbbing_ , fuck.

“Good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humour, after all that.” Lian hummed in response. Her dad sighed heavily, and Lian felt her stomach drop. Was she in trouble?

“Li… you were very brave today. You didn’t have to be, but you were.” He said, his words careful. Lian tensed for what felt like the eightieth time that day. “I’m – I’m really proud of you.”

Wait a second. Lian risked opening one of her eyes, and looking up, and – yep, she was right. “Are you crying?”

Her dad sniffed, and nodded. “Well, yeah. I’m your dad, I’m meant to get all sad and stuff about you.”

Lian sighed, but scooted herself over closer to him anyway, moving her head onto his lap. “You’re getting old, Cha.”

“You and me both.” He said softly. “You gotta be _exhausted_ , sweetheart.”

“You as well.” She mumbled. He was still in his Arsenal uniform, but he’d ditched the gloves and mask and boots. “What even happened?”

“It’s… a long story. But, well, aliens.” Lian blinked.

“Aliens.”

“Yep.”

“I… Okay. I’m not even surprised.” She said. The world felt far too big and tiring at the moment. It could wait.

“…Cha?”

“Yeah, _con yêu?”_

“Is Jason okay?”

“He’s fine. A few scratches and bruises, but he’s fine. Everyone is. We were really lucky today.”

“…Next time we visit the Waynes, can we _please_ just have a movie night or a barbecue or something?”

Her dad laughed out loud at that, and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think that can be arranged.”

“Not before I sleep for the next hundred years.” Lian muttered. “Being a superhero is _exhausting_.”

Her dad nodded solemnly. “You’re absolutely right. G’night, princess.”

“G’night, Cha.”

* * *

_One year later…_

“So?” her dad asked, smiling widely. “How’d you feel?” He was stood on the rooftop of their apartment building, looking gleeful. Lian felt the same.

“The mask is weird,” she confessed, touching the domino on her face. “I’m kinda weirded out by it? Like it doesn’t feel like its there at all.”

Her dad nodded. “Understandable. I think the hood was a good choice, though.”

“That is _not_ what you said when you first saw it. You said I looked like Grandpa Ollie.”

“That was _before_ I realised, we could make it fairly bulletproof, alright? And you _do_ look like him.”

Lian raised an eyebrow at him, and spun around slowly, gesturing to her costume. It was red and white, enough that it made her stand out when under streetlights, but not so much that she couldn’t disappear into the shadows at any moment. She and Damian had spent many a long afternoon designing it together. “Do I? Really?”

Her dad waved his hand at her. “We can have this conversation later. Got everything?”

“Double checked and then triple checked. Yeah, I’ve got everything.”

“ _Absolutely_ everything?”

“I’ve got a whole extra quiver, man, what do you want from me?” she joked. Her dad went to ruffle her hair, but paused once he felt the white kevlar hood.

“That’s gonna take some getting used to.” He said softly. “Alright, you ready to go?”

“ _Born_ ready.”

Lian took out her grapple gun, and jumped off the building gracefully – and Bullseye disappeared into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all I am s o b b i n g. This fic is my fucking baby, man. And it's over. 
> 
> There's more coming, I have some oneshots and a sequel planned. But holy shit. It's OVER. Guys.
> 
> I wanna get sappy real quick -- THANK you. So much. For reading, for commenting, for leaving kudos. All of it. It means so much to me - even if you've read this fic from the first chapter and have kept up till now, or if you're reading like five years into the future and have just finished this after a 4am binge read - thank you so much. 
> 
> My dc tumblr is @itslovingconnerkenthours, i'll probably post and pin something to do with this fic on there soon. If anyone wants to make art or write something in this au, shoot me a dm or an ask over there and tell me about it! And again, thank you so much for reading. May I ask for a kudos if you enjoyed, if I may be so bold? ;D 
> 
> <3

**Author's Note:**

> Can I ask for a kudos, if I may be so bold? ;D


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